


A true Crystal Gem

by FireGire96



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Ending, Angst, Drama & Romance, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-29 11:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 45,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7682968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireGire96/pseuds/FireGire96
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose never told the truth. Bismuth never revealed the truth. Steven never got the truth. But that will all change when they promise change. (My version of the Bismuth ending)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A true Crystal Gem

Steven found himself being lead by his new friend and ally, Bismuth, below the gem's workplace into a area filled with lava. Or more like a practicing area built for weaponry. This was of course hinted at by the statue like gem models lined up across the medium size room, all standing on their own given floor surrounded by the boiling liquid below.

His surroundings could've made him more suspicious of things, but Steven decided to let the scenery slide for now. Of course he would have to keep his energy for the weapon he was promised by Bismuth.

To be honest, the young boy didn't know much about the gem. And he still didn't. But just like he told her, he was just lucky she was someone he could trust. Besides, the new gem had Garnet and Pearl's trust, and maybe Amethyst's as well. So anyone who's a friend or commerade of the crystal gems was a friend of his. Especially if they were willing to help with taking down bad gems too.

"Here it is," The periwinkled gem blurted out to get her ally's attention. "The weapon that would've won the war." The weapon was soon revealed to the young gem to be one that was worn on her was a maroon colored object with a salmon colored Bismuth emblem, two little black straps underneath for the arm, a silver cylinder on one end, and a large metal spike on the other. The weapon of choice could only be described with one word by the brown haired boy.

Cool.

"Woah, what is it," He asked, starstruck by what he was shown at the moment.

"I call it a breaking point," The new gem answered out loud with triumph now apparent in her voice.

"Cool! What does it do?"

"Just watch." With her command, Bismuth then slammed her foot on a tile below her to initiate a pool of lava to flow down the ceiling into the gem like objects underneath them. This caused the objects to filled with the hot liquid, making it into a statue that hatched from it's owner.

The statues soon approached the gems to Steven's surprise and shock only for his friend to shout out once again to the 'enemy', "Listen up, you Homeworld upper crust! WE. ARE. THE CRYSTAL. GEMS!" With her battle cry she drew back the knob on one and end of her weapon and then fired. This caused the spike on the other end to dart out and smash straight into the statue's crystal, shooting a hold through it before blowing into small pieces before Steven.

The young boy's excitement was soon replaced with a look of fear as he examined the remnants of the statue near him. It finally clicked in his head when he realized what she meant about a weapon that could end the war. But it wasn't going to give him the end he wanted.

With a blow of smoke fading away from the Breaking point due to her breath, the periwinkle gem asked casually, "What do you think?"

"You. Shattered it."

"That's right! One shot from this baby will shatter any gem in the galaxy in the blink of a eye."

"You shattered a gem," The boy gem repeated quietly to himself, holding his gem in a state of silent fear. "You destroyed it forever." He felt like he was just about to be sick. But if actions wasn't enough for him, the new gem continued happily,

"Exactly. A homeworld gem would be able to take over this planet when their reduced to shards!" Steven's arm was then grabbed by Bismuth's anxiously for her to equip the weapon onto his body. "There. Now you look like you really mean Bismuth... Now that's a real weapon! Why don't you give it a test run. This one has your name on it!"

The brown haired kid approached the statue given to test the Breaking point out. With his new ally now out of the way, he was ready to take down a gem. Or that's what he thought until he thought to himself. Killing a gem wouldn't change anything, it would only make matters worse. It would give them what they wanted. A killer. He wasn't a killer. He was just a regular gem. He was a human.

"Bismuth, I can't do this," He declared sadly to the other gem's shock.

"What?! Why not?"

"I don't want to hurt gems. Wouldn't that make us the same as Homeworld?"

"Of course not," The periwinkle woman answered out loud. "We'd be shattering them for the sake of our cause! To protect our allies! Our friends! To free all gems from Homeworld's tyranny!"

"It's just... It's not what a crystal gem would do."

"Don't tell me what crystal gem couldn't do. Nobody's more crystal gem then I am. Now if you won't take it, I'll just use it myself." The gem almost took the weapon from the half human's grasp until he pulled away from her and protested before taking it off,

"No! No one is using it!... I'm sorry, Bismuth. But it's not right."

"That's exactly what she said," Bismuth blurted out to Steven's confusion. "That's exactly what you said. It is you isn't it, Rose? Don't lie to me! You're lying about your new form. Just like how you lied to the others about me!" Bismuth picked up the young boy by his shirt to meet his scared eyes to continue to rant. "But I didn't just disappear, did I?! You know what happened to me!"

Before the boy could be yelled at more, Steven created a bubble to pop out of the gem's grasp and onto the floor once again to respond, "Wait Bismuth! This is just a big misunderstanding!"

"Liar! Don't play games with me, Rose. We were right here. I offered you the secret to victory and you refused. The Breaking point would've changed everything. I didn't want to fight you, but you left me no choice!

The periwrinkled gem soon shape shifted her hand into a hammer to pound the young gem into the ground. Luckily for him, she missed so he was able to hide behind a statue for cover while his 'friend' continued to explain as she hunted him down.

"What type of leader doesn't give her army the best chance to win?!"

The angered gem continued to hunt down the scared boy by slashing through a statue to get to him. "How could you value the gems of our enemies more then our own?! And look what you've done without me. Without the Breaking point! You've lost!"

The two of them engaged in combat as Bismuth slammed her blade into Steven's shield. The struggle for the boy went on for a few seconds before his defense broke, leaving him vulnerable but able to respond in fright, "Wait! I'm not my mom! I don't know what she did, but I'm sure she didn't want to hurt you."

"It's too late. I don't believe you anymore!" The final smash could've been delivered if the brown haired boy didn't push his opponent back with a spiked bubble. "All that talk about how gems can take control of their own identities. How we've been convinced to ignore our own potential?! That's all it was, wasn't it? Just. Talk!"

The gem filled with rage then slammed herself up in the air with her hammer only to try and attack the child with it once again. It didn't hurt him, but it sent him into a nasty position above the lava as he tried to maintain floating at the moment.

"You should've listened to me, Rose! I could've taken the whole war to the Homeworld and shatter the diamonds! I would liberated everyone!"

Bismuth delivered her final attack on Steven with the launch of one last statue towards him. And she was able to hit him this time for sure. The battle was over. Rose was gone this time and she was free to work with Breaking point.

That was until the boy was able to get back up and deliver his own last blow. A delivery of the statue back to her, yelling, "Bismuth, watch out," as the object smashed into her back. Smoke devoured the area for a moment until it faded away for the now injured new gem to watch her enemy approach her with her weapon.

"Bismuth," The boy blurted out quietly and calmly. "This needs to stop."

"So what are you going to do? Shatter me?! Go ahead! Just do it!"

"No! Even if we don't agree, nobody deserves this," The young gem stated before saying something that rocked the other's core. Something that she wouldn't expect to hear.

"I know they would think you don't deserve it. Not them. Crazy Lace, Biggs, Snowflake. I didn't know them... But I know they wouldn't want you to do any of this. Neither does Garnet, Amethyst, nor Pearl. They want to take down Homeworld too, but they don't want to kill anyone. They wanted peace. Mom wanted peace. You want peace... So let's do this the easy way. Let's just take down the bad guys, not kill them. Because I know that's what a crystal gem really does..."

"She bubbled me away," Bismuth replied under her breath as tears fell from her face slowly in front of Steven. "She bubbled me away and never told her friends, Steven. Never told my friends... I just wanted to protect them. I wanted to protect Garnet and Pearl... I just wanted them safe. I didn't want to lose them again..."

"We can tell them then. We can tell all three of them what happened. And I can help you get used to things. You can be a crystal gem again. And can start a new life for yourself. This time for good..."

"... You really are better then her... You promise?"

"I promise..." After seconds of silence, Bismuth soon walked with Steven to finish something off. The one thing that caused her pain in the first place. The Breaking point. The weapon that could destroy many was burning in lava. It was gone. And it was never coming back.

The death of the killer was like taking a breath of fresh air for its creator. It served as a sign. The sign of many things to come. But of course, there was a starting point for that too.

Back at the beach house, the crystal gems were sitting peacefully for the return of their fellow teammates. Luckily for them, they came back early. But not in the way they expected. They found scratches all over their bodies that was enough to get them to dash to their aid. And at their aid, Pearl asked with concern, "What happened?"

She needed a answer. She wanted a answer. But what she got was something else. A hug from her old friend, who was crying on her shoulder softly. The impact made the pale gem hug back tightly for comfort before Garnet joined in to create a group hug.

"There's something we have to tell you," Steven whispered to his group, ready to explain it all to his friends with his new ally.

At first, Steven thought Bismuth was just another gem in the war. A gem to help with the rebellion. But soon he realized she's no different from them. She just needed the help and guidance to new ways of life. And if she could be able to do that,

_Then she definitely was a crystal gem..._

**Yeah, not only do I look at RWBY, but I also look at Steven Universe. To be honest, I stopped looking at it at some point until the Alone at Sea episode. So I looked at Bismuth and I liked it, but wasn't fond of the ending. So I made this! If you guys want me to continue, I'll try since I love AU stuff. But feel free to tell me! Until next time or the next fanfic, have a good day! :)**


	2. Friends and family

After telling the gems the secret Rose has kept, they found themselves at lost for words. To realize that Rose kept a lie or two from them? Tolerable in their book. But to lie regarding Bismuth? That only made the gems question more about their leader. Did they truly understand the pink gem entirely? Or is there more things hidden in the shadows?

It was still unknown, but the known changed them. Garnet found it harsh when given the news from her friends at first. But she shook it off since she comprehend that there was more to Rose then meets the eye. Amethyst didn't mind it a little because she didn't have knowledge of the periwinkle gem on a regular basis. And Pearl? There was a chance she took it more personal due to Bismuth being her best friend and the one who bubbled her being her role model.

They all had different approaches on the matter. Yet they were able to put this behind them and move forward. Their leader always wanted to do what she wanted frankly. They could never stop it. And they didn't. They let the gem roam openly, going where her curiosity took her similar to her son. The only distinction was that the boy recognize when over doing things. As for Rose? That was an answer to find later.

For now, it was time to sleep. So Steven put on his bed clothes and slept the night away in his bed. As for the other gems, they all went their separate ways into their rooms for the afternoon. As they left the scene, Bismuth watched them respectively in silence. That was until the purple skinned gem approached her to question while holding her shoulder, "So, uh. You staying here with us or... Ya know. Leaving?"

"That's a good question," The other stated with grief while looking at the ground. "If you want me to stay, I'll try. But I don't know if that's good or not."

"I asked because... Um... Are you good at combat?"

"Most of the time. But I can only say that since I'm a weapon." The former gem stated while showcasing the fact with her hands, turning them into hammers. "Why do you ask?"

Amethyst hesitated at first and tried hard not to connect eyes with Bismuth. The sudden silence made the older gem scared at the answer she would be given for a while. The look on her face made her upset at the impression given. Because of this, and with a bite of her lower lip, she responded with a shaky tone in her voice,

"I think my skills are getting kind of choppy. A-And I need someone who's good with strength to help me get it straight again. I would ask Garnet, but... You seem like you can control yourself better. So I was wondering. If you want to. If we could... Train together?"

"You want me? To train you," The periwinkle gem questioned in disbelief at the proposal given.

"Do you mind?"

"You see. I might have control over my strength. But I even have some training to do myself. So I don't know if I'll be helpful or not... Why do you even need my aid anyway?"

"Before you came back, me and Steven got into a fight with a gem," Amethyst informed, now getting Bismuth's attention. "Her name was Jasper and she worked with Homeworld. We tried fighting her alone only for me to lose. Luckily, Steven defeated her with a friend but..."

"But now you feel weak." Those words made the newer gem stare right into the older's eyes. They were filled with such severeness that was accompanied by a determined frown. "I understand since I was always defeated too. Back when the war was more active."

"Really," Amethyst nearly shouted in a skeptical manner, earning a nod from Bismuth.

"Yeah! Garnet and Pearl can tell you all about it! I would always go in headstrong before thinking things through. Because of that, I would be defeated every day or two. It soon got on the gems nerves, so I decided to practice so they won't have to treat me like a baby anymore. And look at me now. I'm still kind of weak compared to them, but I can kick some butt."

Amethyst didn't know a lot about the periwinkle gem, but the more she did. The more she actually started to feel for her. The courage she delivered in her words? It was something she would do. It was something she honored. And with that honor, she could tell that the older gem was more then a original crystal gem.

She could be the original her.

"So. Can you help me become stronger? Come on, Bismuth. I need to fight for myself so others won't try to protect me like I'm some freak. I need to be able to protect them at times. And you might be my key to doing so. As long as you support me all the way. At least until I can defeat Jasper."

The other gem sat in a questionable state as she thought about the matter. She barely knew anything about Amethyst, but there was something about her that made her relate. It wasn't that she kept losing like her. Or was it that she wanted to be stronger. But she felt the connection. And she loved it. So much that in seconds, she answered with a soft nod and a smile casually,

"Sure. I guess it wouldn't hurt to try."

"Really?!"

"Yeah! I can even help you manage to use the upgrade I gave ya. And before you know it, you'll be strong just like me. Maybe even stronger then me."

"Yes," The purple skinned gem cheered happily but quietly, trying not to wake Steven. "I won't let you down, Bismuth. I promise!"

"You don't have to. I love doing Bis-." Before she could finish her joke, the other gem threw a look of annoyance. Because of that, she finished with a "I love doing business with you," saddened by the failure given. "Now go get some sleep. We start the first thing in the morning."

"Okay." With that, Amethyst dashed straight to her room, leaving Bismuth to watch her silently. Not long afterwards, she thought it would be good to let off some steam outside. So she made her way to the door and out onto the balcony. Her eyes were met with the scenery of the beautiful ocean.

The stars above served as light in the moon's absence, giving the body of sea a sparkle to it. The balls of light also beamed down from the sky occasionally like harmless missiles falling back to Earth. The sound of the ocean waves hitting the shore served as a relaxing noise to keep the gem calm. For now.

Even with the beautiful night sky, angelic sea, and the finest grains of sand, Bismuth still couldn't get Rose off her mind. She still remembered the pain and torment she put her through. Bubbling her, refusing her ordeal? She still loved the gem like a friend, but the last days were like hell for her. She would try everything in her heart to take it back. But at the same time not to.

Rose was gone, but Steven replaced her. That was the good thing to come out of it. Losing a old friend but gaining a better one. It was a dream come true, right? Not exactly. The more she thought about it, the more Bismuth questioned. What if he gets bubbled soon? What if he doesn't come back? And die like her?

The thought slipped into her mind only to be slipped right out. Because of a certain gem coming to keep her company. That gem was Pearl, walking onto the balcony to talk to her friend. As she approached the older gem, she examined silently at her body. The body that Rose let slip through her fingers.

Her pale skin illuminated in the light delivered from the stars. Her bright blue eyes blended in with the midnight sky. And her small smile served as a source to the other's. With the display of the younger gem, Bismuth had to question. What stopped the deceased gem from getting with her? Her attitude? The fact that she's organized? She didn't understand. But what's the point now? She was gone. She'll never come back. So she put it behind her and greeted softly,

"Hey, Pearl. You can't do the sleep ritual?"

"Actually, I try not to sleep since my imagination will show from my gem," The light skinned gem answered, pointing to her head. "And I saw you from the corner of my eye. Is something wrong?"

"I was just thinking."

"About?"

"About Rose," The periwinkle gem replied without hesitation as she turned to her with sad eyes.

"Are you still upset about her lying," Pearl asked with concern.

"No," Bismuth responded, now afraid to make contact with her friend's eyes. "I think it goes deeper then that." The answer made the other gem lay a hand on her arm for comfort. The touch made the older one calm for a while. But not for long. Before she knew it, the younger gem questioned softly,

"What do you mean?"

"... Don't you ever think that Rose. Might've been a little crazy for her own being?"

"Sometimes," Pearl replied hesitantly. "I mean. We barely knew anything about her to begin with."

"Yeah, but... Some of the choices she made were so... Unbelievable." Her eyes soon connected with ocean blue ones. Filled with worry yet curiosity. It only made her more puzzled why her old friend didn't want anything to do with her. Pearl was so unique in a way. Like the other gems. But she was special like Garnet. Or maybe it was something else. Because the longer she stared, the more heat rose in her body. Luckily, this was stopped when the pale gem countered,

"Well, she always did what she wanted. She never did things normally. She always questioned life. That's what I love about you and her. You two don't just follow orders. You switch and bend them to your will. I could never do such a thing even if I tried."

"... Oh, come on, Pearl. being reserved and cautious is good," Bismuth stated with a loving smile. "You don't have to worry with messing anything up. And you'll always be safe due to calculations and all that jazz. That's what makes you special." The last sentence caused the younger gem to immediately blush. She then chuckled,

"I wouldn't say that I'm special-."

"You don't have to," Her friend interrupted. "I can tell you are..." The two of them stared at one another, taking in what they heard and saw. Pearl knew that Bismuth always was someone who brightened your spirit. But she never realized she had a way with words. It was refreshing to be complemented for once. It's been to long since Rose that she had a real one. She got some from Steven, but barely from the gems. It was another moment where she thanked her friend for being here again.

So thankful that she suddenly hugged her as tight as she could. With the closure, the older gem found herself blushing as well. This only became worse when the pale gem whispered softly, "Thank you, Bismuth."

"F-For what," The older gem asked, scratching the back of her head nervously.

"For coming back and always being here for me."

"Aw Pearl. You know I'll always come back. And I'll always be here for you. Along with everyone else." The two of them hugged as long as they could that night. Neither wanted the moment to end. And it wouldn't. Because as long as she had friends to protect along with a child,

_Bismuth wasn't going anywhere._


	3. Warm Welcome

The following day, Steven came up with a idea to help Amethyst cool down from training. And to help Bismuth get to know her surroundings and future allies a little. At first, his brain farted at the thought from thinking too hard. He suggested himself the arcade or Big Donut. But none of them sounded. Perfect to him. But soon, the idea hit his head like a brick. What other place to go then to the barn to meet Lapis and Peridot?

That way, Bismuth will be able to meet new friends and Amethyst could be able to relax for once. It was the perfect idea he was trying to find. All Steven hoped was that it would actually work.

The old new gem isn't familiar the two other members of the team. For all he knew, it could be a disaster. Whether it was arguing or making the other annoyed. He could tell Bismuth was a fun gem. But also one that's not afraid to say what's on her mind. So will things go wrong because of it? All the brown haired boy could do was wish not.

As they walked through the grassy plains peacefully, the young gem and the older gem were taken off guard by a sound. The sound of the middle one cracking her whip strong behind them. With the action and their attention, she blurted out in a surprise manner, "Did you see that? Wa-poosh, just wa-poosh!"

"That's great, Amethyst," Steven complimented as he turned to give a smile to his friend. "You're getting so fast. I bet you and Bismuth are doing good in training, huh?"

"Well, I do try my best to help out," Bismuth responded casually with a genuine smile. Sadly, these words were put to the test when the purple skinned gem grunted,

"No! This is worse! This morning it was like woosh! Just woosh! Superfast, like woosh woosh!"

" 'Woosh' is the sound of speed in my book. But 'Wa-poosh' is the sound of power. Yeah, it's slower. But you're putting more muscle into it and that's what really matters."

"That's easy for you to say. You're all about power."

"Now what did I say about negativity towards yourself," The periwinkle questioned in a stern tone, shifting her eyes towards her student's. "Drop it at least for today. Besides, Steven wanted us to relax today, right?" With himself added again, the brown haired boy replied with a nod, answering,

"This is why a day off would be good for you. For both of you. Amethyst, you should take a break for obsessing over Jasper. And Bismuth, you haven't seen Lapis and Peridot before."

The plan reexplained made the older gem grin willingly as she thought of the gems' faces. Smart but powerful gems that can take care of themselves. That's the type of people that she would love to meet. If they were dumb and small? Well, she can only hope to try not judging a book by it's cover for once.

As for Amethyst, she wasn't the slightest happy about meeting up with 'friends'. As shown when she sighed bitterly, putting up her whip, "Are you sure we have to do this?"

"Yes," The young boy responded. "Visiting Lapis and Peridot would be so much fun!"

"Yeah. Because when I think fun, I think 'Lapis'."

"Is Lapis a nerd," The older gem asked the middle gem curiously.

"Oh yeah. Lapis can be so boring. She never does anything but mope around and get sad over the littlest of things. Like a emo."

"Funny," Bismuth whispered into Steven's ear softly, making the boy let out a chuckle. "I wonder where she gets that from."

"I can hear, you know."

"We were just joking, Amethyst."

"Sure you were," The purple skinned gem rolled her eyes with the comment given. Due to this, the two others stayed silent for a while. Until the young boy to get his new friend's attention by stating,

"Lapis can be kind of. Weird? And Peridot can be a smarty pants. But I think you'll like them. And I'm sure they'll like you too."

"Well then I'm sure they'll like me too, Steven," The periwinkle gem responded cheerfully then questioned the other gem what she thought. She expected her to ignore them, but instead she shrugged effortlessly.

"As long as they didn't drive each other crazy and burned the barn down."

This was soon answered when the three gems were met with a almost new and improved barn. It was just like the original, but with addition of truck built into the top of it. There was also a large silo on the side of it and a small tent on the other with the Canadian flag.

The sight made Steven and Amethyst surprised at the development put into it. As for Bismuth, she was so shocked that she could fan girl. The establishment was like another base of work to her. A better one at that. because of this, she had to yell to her friends fortunately,

"This is cool! Did Lapis and Peridot make this?!"

"I think they did," The brown haired boy answered with a slight chuckle at her actions. "They should also be here too. That way they can meet you."

"Yeah. Now I'm kind of excited. Let's hurry up and greet our allies!"

The three gems then walked towards the barn, slowly hearing a quiet voice. At first, the young one thought the new crystal gems were secretly talking about life or about them. But this was debunked when it was revealed to be a show on their tv. As for the owners, they were sitting together, invested in the program. At least they were until he called out loud, "Lapis! Peridot! Hi!"

"That's Lapis and Peridot, huh," Bismuth murmured with gritted teeth, angered by the upper class gems given. This caused something to fume in her body. But soon to disappear when her young friend whispered to her,

"Don't worry. Their not bad guys. They used to be, but their good now. And their our friends."

"Really?" A nod was given as a answer, calming the periwinkle gem a little. "Alright. Like I said, any friend of yours is a friend of mine. And. Now that you say it, they don't want to kill you from the looks of it. So, that's a thumbs up."

"Great!"

"Hey," Bismuth shouted to make the owners of the barn stare at her immediately. "You two are Lapis and Peridot, right? I'm Bismuth and it's nice to meet you!" She thought the two would come down and greet themselves. Maybe even hang out like she hoped. Talk about life, the war, and their likes or dislikes.

But what she got was a fist of water to her body, causing her to be blown through the grassy fields harshly. Because of this, Steven and Amethyst looked horrified at the scene shown. But not for long when the brown haired boy asked with a scared whine,

"Lapis! What was that for?!"

"Yeah," The purple gem agreed in the same tone only to be answered with anger,

"Do you two even know who that is?! She's a Bismuth! She looked just like the one too... It has to be her..."

"What are you blabbering on about," Peridot questioned in annoyance before she heard historical laughter from a far. The noise was soon shown to be Bismuth standing up from the impact. Her along with the others stared with worry and bewilderment. They then snapped out of it when the older gem turned to yell in excitement,

"Either you lied to Steven or this is your way of saying hello. I'm going to go with the second one since he said your friends. So I'll say it again." With a launch of her body into the air once again, the periwinkle gem dived towards Lapis. Her hand now shape shifted into a hammer, she slammed her weapon of choice into the blue gem's water fist. This made the sculpture explode all over the gems harshly. "It's nice to meet you!"

The attacks could've lead to battle of the two gems. That is if it wasn't for Steven, who jumped in front of the to while the blue gem stared intensely at the other that just grinned. As he did that, Amethyst approached her teacher and Peridot approached her friend to help. "Why are you guys fighting?!"

"I don't think that was actually fighting," The green skinned gem corrected firmly. "It was just a exchange of two attacks."

"Which is fighting, uh duh," The purple gem told the other small gem sarcastically before asking the older one next to her, "Why did you have to go and start a fight again? I know I do that sometimes, but only when someone plays unfair."

"I thought we talked about this, Bismuth," Steven continued. "No fighting or fighting back unless there's trouble. If it's a friend, talk it out."

"Hey. I just thought it was a way of saying hello," Bismuth explained casually with her signature smile. "So I hit her back! Easy peasy."

"No. Not easy peasy," Lapis replied in outrage while she approached the periwinkle gem again. Her blue eyes met with black ones owned by her enemy. The one that ruined her life. They were filled with so much determination, freedom, devotion, and humor. She hated it. She hated it so much that she shouted to her, "Do you know who I am?!"

"Uh, yeah. You're Lapis, right?"

"I'm the one who was in the middle of the war. I'm the one who was on that beach that day when it happened! I'm the gem you almost killed that evening!! DON'T YOU REMEMBER?! YOU PUNCHED MY GEM AND ALMOST KILLED ME!"

"... Wait a minute," The periwinkle gem whispered with squinted eyes as she examined the gem before her. She didn't know why but the more she stared at her, the more images started to flood through her mind in silence. She remembered slowly of that day it all started. And when she did, her eyes went wide in shock, a oh escaping from her mouth in the process. Because of this, Steven couldn't help but ask in concern,

"What is it, Bismuth?"

"I remember now! I did punch you in the back!... But um. I didn't mean to through... Or maybe I did. I don't know, I have problems with being in the heat of the battlefield. So..." Lapis was close to tearing the gem apart. She wanted to kill her and make her pay for what she's done. But she couldn't because Peridot had her locked down by her arms and Steven was too busy in the middle of it all. "I guess I owe you a apology then since you're good with the little meatball here."

"You owe me more then a apology!"

"Uh, excuse me," Amethyst interrupted with a raised hand. "Uh, yeah. I don't know what's going on, nor do I want to get into it. But seriously. Someone please tell me what's going on before I get ticked off."

"I guess. It wouldn't hurt to explain myself, right," Bismuth asked Lapis, only for her to shift her eyes away in disgust. Because of this, Steven had to answer himself by replying in a quiet serious tone,

_"Yeah. We should at least try to talk this out..."_

**Sorry if this chapter was kind of bad. I tried my best with what could happen if Bismuth and Lapis met and this was what I thought of. I hope you guys at least enjoyed it and until the next chapter, have a good day! :)**


	4. Misunderstanding

The gems soon entered the barn for a discussion of Bismuth and Lapis. Inside was many different objects either treated like trash or like art. A aquarium built into the wall or a vacuum filled with water. That was their masterpieces along with others. They were looked upon by Steven as a way to express themselves. For Amethyst, it was a pile of trash, which she was surprisingly not interested in. And as for Bismuth? She just saw it as normal objects.

They all would've taken it in, but that wasn't the matter at hand. The matter was the problems between the old new gem and the blue one. The shorty squad needed to know why Lapis would try to hurt Bismuth. And why Bismuth hurt her back and nearly killed her? If they didn't, then the drama will ensue into more dilemma. And the brown haired boy hated drama. Unless it was in cartoons of course.

So to start things off, the gems began getting themselves situated and comfortable for the discussion. Steven sat crisscross on the floor quietly. Peridot stood silently, waiting as patiently as she could. Amethyst stood away from it all, laying her back on rusted wood. Lapis sat to the right of her human friend and Bismuth sat to the left of him. With their formation and the awkward silence given, the young boy was able to start after clearing his throat,

"So. Uh... Do one of you want to start this off?" With the question, the blue gem stayed reticent about the situation. The periwinkle one instead shrugged her shoulders casually, causing quietness to almost consume the barn again. That is until the now sweating human continued with a nervous chuckle, "Um. How did you guys meet? Or w-what happened when your crystal almost shattered, Lapis?"

"... I already told you, Steven," The enraged gem responded coldly to her friend. The action made the boy afraid to use his ability to talk. But he soon calmed down inside when she sighed, "But if you want me to explain again. And for this 'Bismuth' to remember as well... Then I'll tell you." She expected for the old gem to say something smart. Or even attack her again. But she sat in silence, staring at her with such a innocent look on her face. A look that she despised more then the owner of it.

She wanted to hurt her. But she had to restrain herself for Steven and the other two gems around. So she sighed lightly and explained, "It was thousands of years ago and I was only meant to visit Earth for a short time. But I got caught in the middle of the war instead. I tried to run but..."

"But I punched you... Right?" Lapis' blue eyes met with Bismuth's black ones again. But this time, as much as she wanted to yell at her for what she's done. She couldn't help but agree. She did punch her. She almost killed her and made her trapped in a mirror. It was all true. So she asked herself, if it was true, why did she still want to hurt her? Was it her tone of voice? Her face? She couldn't put her finger on it, but she could correspond with the gem.

"You nearly destroyed my gem. You nearly killed me," The blue gem continued, gradually becoming louder with every word delivered. "I was picked up by a Homeworld soldier and confused for a Crystal Gem and used as a tool. Because of you. They treated me so wrong and left me to die. Because of you! I was taken by some gems. The Crystal Gems again! And when I was free, I was used like a tool by Jasper and Peridot! BECAUSE OF YOU-."

"Can I please stop you there," The periwinkle gem interrupted normally, causing the other gem to stare in surprise. But even with the shock given, it didn't stop her from going on to say, "Let me get this straight. You're mad at me because you got captured and used by my team. Not only that. But this. Jasper. And Peridot used you too?"

"Yes. They used me and you almost killed me-."

"Then let me get something straight for you then. Do you see the symbol on Peridot's shirt?" Bismuth asked, making both Lapis and Steven turn to find a yellow diamond on the green gem. As they stared at the now awkward Peridot, the symbol soon clicked into their heads and with a gasp from the blue gem, she continued, "Yep. Yellow Diamond. She's the reason why I went there that day. I fought some of her goons. And again. I have a serious problem with living in the moment. So because I don't know when to stop, I guess I punched you. And I'm sorry for that..."

Steven couldn't help but smile at the words given by his new friend. It was a smile that was enough to make the periwinkle grin back. But not for long when she put back on a serious face and stated, "I apologize for what I've done, Lapis. And I really hope you can forgive me. I never had any intentions to hurt one of Steven's future friends. If I've known, I would've never done such a thing..."

"See? Now how hard was that-."

"But," The old new gem interrupted once again. "I'm willing to put that past behind us and let us fix our wrongs together. Only if you can do a few things for me. One, I need you to get out of the past. I'm having a problem with doing that myself, but when Steven came into my life? I'm able to do so most of the time. If you can do that for 80% of your time, we're good." Lapis didn't know what to say. But she had to agree.

"Second, I want you to learn to give people a second chance. I can tell from the way you act around these two that you and Amethyst have a problem. And by the looks of it, you have a problem with us Crystal Gems too. But you're friends with us. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Because of Steven," The gem answered as she turned to her friend with a reassuring smile. "He's the one that saved me. And since he's friends with the Crystal Gems, I just had to get used to it."

"Hmm... Lastly, no matter what, don't lie or hurt Steven. Since he's protected you and helped you this whole time, you should repay him with respect. If you don't, I'll have no choice but to really break your gem. Understand?" The threat was harsh, but it wasn't enough to scare the blue gem. Yet it made something develop in her body like fire. Guilt? More hatred?

Or was it respect?

She didn't know, but it caused her to give her a little slack. She still hated her like any other Crystal Gem, but she could see herself fighting with her if it comes to that. For Steven's sake and her's, she had to find a way around it. And she was going to. So after a few seconds, she nodded in understanding before staying silent again. And surprisingly, as if nothing happened, Bismuth immediately cracked a smile and shouted, "Great! Now let's really have fun! Right, Steven!?"

"Yeah," The brown haired boy agreed happily. "Wanna hang out with us too, Lapis?"

"I think I'm fine, Steven," Lapis answered to his distaste along with his friend's. She expected the two to hang with Peridot and relax for the moment. But before she could, the periwinkle gem looked at her one more time and blurted out with sadly,

"I'm not your enemy. I'm your ally. You know that, right, Lapis?"

The silent gem stared at the one who nearly took her life for a moment. She had the same look from earlier. Eyes filled with determination and a face filled with grieve. Then her eyes shifted to Steven, the one in the middle. With his innocent look and sweet smile, she couldn't help but get the fact in her mind. The fact that her and Bismuth are partners. Whether she liked it or not. With that in mind, she nodded again and replied quietly, "I know... I just need time."

"Well I don't," Amethyst disrupted out loud in anger, getting the three's attention along with Peridot's. "I don't care about your problems nor do I want to just stay here and play with... With garbage!"

"But I thought you loved playing with garbage," Steven whined.

"Not anymore. Who has time for any of that when Jasper is out there?!" Hush reuinited with the air once again due to this statement. Fear erupted in Peridot, surprise in Lapis, concern in Steven, and annoyance in Bismuth. The silence continued to take over until Peridot broke it with a stutter,

"U-Uh, Amethyst, I uh... Try not to use the J word so loosely around here."

With a sigh, the purple gem left the scene to the other gems and the humans in irritation. The action then caused Bismuth to grunt with crossed arms, "Man, I thought we were done with the drama. I tried to be done with it for you, you little meatball. But I guess Amethyst just can't catch a break without breaking something. Or a certain someone... Also, how come you're so quiet, Peridot? Amethyst and Steven told me you can be annoying."

"They did, did they," Peridot questioned with quiet anger, only for the periwinkle gem to nod effortlessly.

"A-Actually, I said that you can be a smarty pants, but never annoying-."

"Say no more, Steven. I understand," The green gem responded quickly. "I didn't want to get in the middle of it since every time I try to get in the middle of something, I only make things worse. Also, Amethyst is her own gem. I can't stop her from doing what she wants. That would be wrong of me." The old new gem looked at her with a face filled with confusion until it all made sense.

Bad talk. Not getting in the other's way. The awkward silence from the two.

The idea was enough to make her smile like a dork before chuckling, "So, how would you feel if I told you that Amethyst doesn't think she's better then Jasper? Along with the fact that I've been training her since her little defeat?"

"... That's ridiculous. Amethyst is nothing like Jasper. She's nice and Jasper is... Scary. Not only that, but they were both made from different kindergartens."

"Really," The brown haired boy asked in disbelief while the older gem started to bit her lip nervously.

"Yeah. Amethyst and Jasper are two completely different quartz. Sure their both from Earth, but their kindergartens are radically different. Amethyst's from the Prime Kindergarten in Facet Five. Jasper's from the Beta Kindergarten in Facet Nine! You should know that, Bismuth, since you're a Crystal Gem and all."

"What," A voice asked from the barn entrance, trying to understand what her friend said. The owner of the voice was Amethyst, who had heard from outside the barn. And because of what she heard, she couldn't help but ask in slight rage, "Jasper was born in another kindergarten? And you never bothered to tell me?!"

"On my defense, and speaking from the heart here, Amethyst, you're not ready," Bismuth told her student calmly before adding. "At least. Not alone. And I knbow it's dangerous there too."

"Uh, that's why she has friends, remember," Peridot replied sarcastically. "I think she's alright enough to see her birth site. It's not like we're sentencing her to death."

"Look, I love fighting. But I don't love having my gem crushed! We should stay here if we know what's best."

"What's best is taking down Jasper," the purple gem yelled at her teacher out loud. "This is the only way in doing so. So don't try and stop me, Bismuth!"

"I'm not trying to stop you, I'm trying to help you!"

"I don't need your help anymore! You've trained me and now I need to test my skills. To see what our training has lead us!"

Bismuth wanted to stop the gem, but nothing was able to get through her head. She didn't know what to do with the hard head. But Steven did. She could tell from the look on his face that he thought it was a bad idea. But at the same time, this was his friend. Their friend. They bad no choice but to at least support her and if something bad happened, they'll be there to stop it. So with a annoyed sigh, she hesitantly told the green gem,

_"Peridot, Take us to the darn kindergarten before I change my mind..."_


	5. Looking Deeper

Soon into the day, the shorty squad and Bismuth finally ended up at the beta kindergarten. It was revealed to them to be a desert like area similar to that of the prime kindergarten. The area was surrounded by sunlight that bounced off the walls like a mirror and consumed it's heat like a sponge. There were still body like holes and injectors lying around like the other. This supported the fact that they were both the same. But maybe they could be different in a way.

The group of gems decided to scan the area for any sources to prove that Amethyst was a special gem. As they did, Steven stared in awe at the new found place, leaving only Peridot to show the purple gem the differences. The boy was left alone to the scene before him until he felt a hand on his shoulder. The hand of Bismuth, who with a genuine smile, signaled him to move along.  
She didn't know what was on the boy's mind, but she knew what was on her's. What kind of Jasper were they dealing with? Why did Amethyst want to get revenge so badly? Was the gem a old friend or a new foe? She knew that she had to stand up for her friends and student no matter what. But she couldn't help but think if this was another Rose situation. What if they were hiding something from her? Or someone?  
The thought hurt the periwinkle gem's head for a while before the young one called out her name. With the blurt out, the older gem turned her attention to the boy who delivered a question with concern, "Are you okay? You look kind of scared."  
"Oh, um," Bismuth responded, lost at words for a minute while she scratched the back of her head. "I was just wondering... Who's the Jasper? And what has she done so wrong for Amethyst to fall madly in love with her."  
With a small chuckle from the joke, Steven answered quietly, "Jasper is a gem that came to Earth to cause problems. Well, that's what I think since she almost destroyed Beach City and poof Garnet. I don't know what she wants now though. She's been finding corrupted gems and taking them down to capture them. I know since she was with one when she poof Amethyst. She became jealous since me and Connie defeated her, but now she's okay and just wants to defeat Jasper."  
"Corrupted gems..." The older gem automatically closed her fist in hidden rage from the statement. Her eyes magnified to the ground with every step she took. And a frown appeared on her face for the young boy to find. It immediately made the brown haired kid's worry become more relevant. And that was a bad thing on her behalf to make him more troubled.

"What about the corrupted gems?" Steven wanted a answer from his new friend. But what he got was just a stern look from her. He could tell from the silence and her solid black eyes that he made a mistake. But he could also see the hatred in them. Something was eating Bismuth up inside and really badly too. This scared him a little, but only made the periwinkle stop dead in her tracks, cancelling the boy's movement as well.

Their eyes shifted to the scene in front of them like a flashlight to a murder scene. And what they found turned their worries into fear. It was two injectors slammed onto each other harshly. It looked as if someone had pulled them off from above the walls and blighted them in a fit of rage. Rage or no rage, this was a suspicious sight for the two gems.

"What happened to these injectors," The brown haired boy asked with raised eyebrows.

"I don't know," The old new gem replied, eyes on the objects like it was a work of art. "But I have a bad feeling about this trip now. We should get out of here."

"But what about Amethyst?"

"Steven, I care about Amethyst defeating Jasper. But I also care about everyone's health. Something dangerous is going on, and I don't like the feeling it's giving off. What if the person or thing that caused this is still around? I just don't think this is a good idea. You understand?"

"... I guess I understand," Steven answered sadly for Bismuth to pat him on the head gently. The action caused the boy to laugh a little, making the periwinkle gem develop a grin on her face once again. "I guess I'll go tell Peridot and Amethyst about this."

"Good. You go. I need to examine things around here for a minute."

"Okay. Call me if there's trouble!"

"I'll keep that in mind." With that, the boy left the scene to his friend in pursue of his other comrades. Due to his absence, the older gem was finally able to let out a huge sigh fill with relief. She then approached the destruction slowly to scan the mess on her knees. Scratches were shown on the glass, the drills were bent in all directions, and they were broken from the lack of life sources.

Was this Jasper's doing? Did she destroy these injectors without a problem or with problem? Was she capable of doing this much damage to these? If so, then she knew what they were dealing with. And it wasn't a gem.

It was a monster. A monster that would probably kill them without hesitation nor a sweat. If such a gem existed, then this meant they were in big trouble. The fact made Bismuth stare in fright as her body shook in shock. Her eyes went wide in disbelief. Her hands vibrated with her hole. And the adrenaline in her veins increased drastically. For once in her life, she felt true fear.

And true exhilaration.

This feeling was soon interrupted when she heard Steven call out her name with a cry. She sprung to her feet and dashed to the direction of the boy's voice. When she finally found him, what she saw advanced the panic even more. More exit holes. But not just any kind of exit holes. They shared a striking resemblance to caves. Caves that were closed up by metal bars like a cell. The look shocked the gems all together until Peridot whispered to them in a exacting tone,

"These aren't exit holes anymore."

"Then what are they," Steven questioned, walking towards one of the holes to see. Only for him to almost be attacked by a corrupted gem. Luckily for him, Peridot and Amethyst saved the boy from it. But it was unlike the other corrupted gems. It was a gem that they knew. A gem that Bismuth knew. And with the sight of it's brown layered skin, she couldn't help but murmur with a tear slowly falling down her cheek,

"It's..."

"What," The brown haired boy asked in concern while he got back to his feet.

"... Biggs?" With that name and the commotion, the corrupted gems in the other holes started to roar in anger. This caused the shorty squad to turn their attention to the beast around them in fear. They stood their ground, but Bismuth? She kept her eyes on her old friend. Someone sh cared about now monster. This made her punch the wall with a roar, surprising the other three and shouting,

"Did she do this? Who did this?!"

"She did," The purple gem answered in a deep tone that caused the gems to see the cause of everything. Through the dust, she stood there without fear. With determination on her face and a killer frown. In all her glory, they finally found her.

The shorty squad spotted Jasper

_And Bismuth finally saw Jasper for the first time..._


	6. Friends and Secrets

The group of gems watched behind the scenes at Jasper's activity. As they watched, Bismuth couldn't help but grit her teeth in anger at what was given to her eyes. She kept telling herself it wasn't that gem. It wasn't the gem that she was so close to. They would never turn into one of those monsters.

But being indenial didn't help anyone. It didn't help her at all. She had to wake up and face the facts. It was Biggs. The gem turned into one of her worst nightmares. And she couldn't do anything about it. But she could be able to do something about the cause, that was for sure. That's if she was quick to it.

Amethyst also stared daggers at the enemy before her and her friends with rage. The one who defeated her. The one who made a fool out of her. Was standing right in front of her, being arrogant to the beast she's raised as her's. Just with the sight she couldn't help but growl. And when her name was called upon, being compared to them? It made her want to explode.

The two gems watched in anger. But only the periwinkle one was snapped back into reality when her human friend whispered, "Me and Peridot think we should go back to the barn and get the others."

"Steven," Bismuth responded quietly, turning to her friend with tears rolling down her cheeks slowly. The expression given made the brown haired boy's eyes go wide in disbelief and his mouth drop slightly. For her to cry was something out of the norm. That was until he remembered what they had found. And due to this, he murmured with a hand on her shoulder,

"I know. I'm so sorry, Bismuth... If you don't want to watch anymore, then we can just go back home and fight another day."

"... Please," The old gem sniffed with grief as she tried to clean her face with her big arms. "Before I really do something I'll regret..."

Steven knew what she was talking about and it made him want to take them away faster. So he called out to his green gem friend that their leaving was a go. At least that's what he thought before he realized one thing.

Amethyst was gone. And where did she go? To finish things off with Jasper. With her stubborn action of sneaking from above, Bismuth had no choice but to jump into the scene to get her. With concealed anger, she signaled the purple gem to get from above her. But she didn't listen, just continued to try and take down her opponent. As she side stepped to her, both her and the older gem heard the orange gem speak louder, telling the monster cockily,

"I will never let this planet twist me like it twisted you. Weakness embarrasses Homeworld. You suffer because it's what you deserve. We all get what we deserve. Right. Amethyst?" With her now noticed, it would be best for the ignorant gem to attack her. But she instead jumped in surprise to hit the floor below. The orange gem was about to continue taunting her until something else caught her line of sight.

And that was Bismuth, standing before her with a stern look on her face. With the determination given and the posture for a fight, Jasper couldn't help but question with a raised eyebrow, "A Bismuth?"

"I'm not a Bismuth," The old new gem responded in the same deep tone. "I'm the Bismuth. And I'm not worthy of your time. I just wanted to ask you one little question... Were you the one who did this?!" She pointed to the corrupted gems around her with pure rage.

After laughing for a second, the other gem answered, "I didn't do this. Do you even think I'm capable of doing this? I wished. Only this planet and your stupidity can turn you into that." She expected the periwinkle gem to be consumed by infatuation. Have the sudden urge to kill her or poof her. But instead, she felt the opposite.

In a flash, her mean expression turned into one of sad relief. Her frown devolved into a smaller one. Her eyes squinted back to normal. And her body shrunk like a inflated balloon. Before the orange gem knew it, she was back to her normal self, at least almost to be exact. "That's good. It means I won't have to break you," She murmured softly while looking at the bright ground below.

"Excuse me?"

Before she could explain herself, her student jumped in front of her as she yelled out loud, "Stay out of this." And just like that, the periwinkle gem was pushed out of the way to reply back in anger, "Dang it, Amethyst! You're not ready!"

"I am ready," The purple gem argued back in annoyance.

"No you're not!"

"I'll prove it!" She then took out her whips to get ready to fight. And with them, she delivered a few good hits on her enemy, even sending her to the wall to her friends surprise. They started to think that she probably did have things under control. That was until Jasper got back up without a sweat.

Amethyst's attacks started to be taken by the orange gem like it was nothing. The sight of not falling down caused the purple gem to stare in horror. The more she tried to attack, the more it proved to be harder and harder. Her opponent started to gradually approach her after a while, telling her sternly,

"You know, I would want to give you another beating. But now I'm kind of interested in that Bismuth over there." The statement caused the periwinkle gem to turn in surprise, only to find the sinister smile on her face after she kicked the young gem away. The scene didn't make her jump in, but it made Steven do so. And when he did, he slashed down a injector from above, making the two fighters split up for the green gem to command

"Steven, get Amethyst and let's get out of here!"

"I'm on it," The brown haired boy replied and ran out to his friend with the older gem behind him. When the two of them approached the tired gem, she blurted out through coughs in sadness,

"Steven. Bismuth. I can't win. No matter what I do. No matter how hard I worked. She came out right and I came out wrong."

"That's just what Jasper thinks," The human responded back. "She's the only one who thinks you should be like her."

"But-."

"Stop trying to be like her," Her teacher shouted out, upset by the student's attitude given. "You're not a Jasper. You're a Amethyst! Forget what I said earlier, I was ticked off. I don't want to see you poof. I want you to beat her so we can get the answers we truly deserve!... I think I'm losing her. Say something, Steven!"

"You're like me," Steven continued at her volume to his small friend. "Because we're both not like anybody. And yeah. It sucks." Before he could go on any more, Jasper returned to throw the injector before her effortlessly out of the way. With this action, Bismuth jumped in front of the two young gems with her hand shape shifting to her weapon of choice. A hammer. The weapon made the other older gem chuckle,

"So you can make a weapon out of your body? Impressive. But you and I both know that you're weak. And so are those two-."

"Does it look like I care about what you think?! I want answers! And I want them now! Who did this and what is your motives?!"

"I don't have to answer to a gem runt! Who do you think I am?"

"Another failed gem like all the other evil jaspers out there. You think you're stronger then us. But there's a difference between you and me. I moved on. And I am freaking trying still! I don't live in the past like you because of one screw up! I woke up! And when I did, I realized that I'm stronger then you. Peridot's stronger then you! Steven and Amethyst are stronger then you! And I know without a doubt that they can beat you!"

Suddenly, a purple explosion erupted from behind her for colored smoke to spread around her and their enemy. As the smoke cleared, the three remaining gems were brought to a sight that nearly made them pass out. In place of Steven and Amethyst was a three armed brown haired purple skinned gem. The gem wore a mixture of both the younger gems clothing while having both of their gems on itself. It was mixture of the two.

It was a fusion.

The new being lifted it's arms in the air to shout out in excitement, "What a beautiful day!" The mere sound and look of this creation made the periwinkle gem laugh out loud as the remaining two stayed surprised. That was until Jasper asked in confusion,

"Who are you supposed to be?!"

"Oh yeah, who am I now? I feel like Amethyst knows this."

"Forget your name! You have a fight to win," Peridot declared with a yell. But even with her words, the new gem continued playfully as it took out Amethyst's whip. With the whip, it took out Steven's shield, sent it into the air and catch it onto the whip. This combined the two into a yo-yo, the creation's signature weapon as it revealed it's signature name.

Smokey Quartz.

Smokey proved to be a problem for Jasper as they fought one another on the orange battlefield. Even with it's playful manners and childish attacks, Smokey had the other older gem running for her money. She tried as hard as she could the whole time, but was either hit by her opponent's weapon or hurting herself from mistakes. Mistakes that continued to make both Bismuth and Peridot share a laugh together.

The laughter was almost killed when the orange gem decided to fuse with a corrupted one. But luckily for them, even with the extra power, Smokey won the battle in the end. Jasper was defeated on the floor and the beast ran away from the group to free roam. As the monster ran off, the other older gem was met with a chuckling old new gem that blurted out cockily,

"I told you you couldn't win. Don't mess with the Cystal Gems!"

"... Nobody I fuse with. Ever wants to stay," Jasper whispered to herself as she watched her so called partner run away. The scene made the gem laugh to herself sadly to Bismuth's surprise. And not in a good way. But in a mournful way.

She should hate the gem for everything she's done, but she didn't know her. She should beat her for messing with Biggs, but she didn't know everything. She should be mad. So why was she grieving when she loved the pain? Something about the fallen gem caused the periwinkle gem to have the sudden urge to help. To do something. Maybe this was what Steven felt when he tried to save her she thought. Upset. Sorry...

Before she could help though, the old new gem noticed something off about the older gem. Her skin started to turn blue and spikes popped out from out of nowhere. It was happening again. She was going to end up like the other lost gems.

She was going to be corrupted.

With her body becoming worst, the now unfused Smokey delivered Steven to help. The young boy approached the defeated gem slowly before his new friend pulled him back to whisper, "Be careful."

"I'll try to be," The boy answered calmly.

"If something happens, me, Peridot, and Amethyst will jump in, okay."

"... I hope nothing happens." With that, the brown haired boy went to the soon to be corrupted gem to kindly blurt out to her, "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Rose," Jasper replied quietly, panting for dear life.

"I'm not Rose. I'm Steven. And I just want to try and heal you." The young boy then licked his hand to deliver saliva to the warrior's gem. He wanted her to accept his help. But what he wanted wasn't what he got. What he got was a slash to his chest that almost cut way pass his shirt if her wasn't lucky. The action made the gems want to hurt her even more. But this was prevented when Jasper blurted out angrily,

"I see how you do it now Rose, you want Gems after they're worthless, you wait until after they've lost, because when you're at the bottom, you'll follow anyone, that makes you feel like less of a failure. Hah! just look at this one," She pointed to Peridot as she continued, "You've stripped her of everything! Her limb enhancers, her status, her dignity."

"I still have one of those," The green gem replied in an as a matter fact tone.

"How can you side with Rose Quartz?! Why? Why protect this useless shell of a planet?"

"It's not a shell," Her old partner countered quietly. "There's so much life. Living here, that's what I'm doing! I'm living here! I've been learning new things about myself all the time! Like how I can make metal do my bidding! The point being: Earth can set you free."

"Earth is a prison, I got out because I'm better than this place. I only came to finish you off. Or at least fight you, you Bismuth." Her yellow eyes connected with the periwinkle's black ones filled with confusion and sadness. I've been fighting from the second I broke free of the Earth's Crust, because of what she did," Thefallen gem pointed to Steven, making him scared as the corruption got worse.

"You might want to calm down there-."

"It's because of what you did to my colony! Because of what YOU did to my planet! Because of what YOU did to my Diamond!"

"Yellow Diamond," The brown haired boy questioned to Jasper's surprise. The answer made the orange gem stare in mystification before answering in complete rage to the gems as loud as she could.

"My Diamond! Your Diamond! PINK DIAMOND-." Suddenly, silence filled the air. Jasper's screams were stopped. Steven's whines were quiet. Everything was sitting in air filled of nothingness. And it was all because of one thing.

The fact that Bismuth put Steven's hand on Jasper's gem.

The action caused the orange gem to start slowly regaining her old look in seconds. As her and the shorty squad watched in awe and shock, the periwinkle gem looked at the warrior with emotionless eyes. Eyes that scared her friends for a moment or two. And with those eyes and her voice, she commanded the three of them, "Get back to the barn. And don't look back..."

"But what about you-."

"You don't worry about me," She interrupted Steven in a stern voice. "You just go and tell Garnet and Pearl I'll be okay. Now." the shorty squad soon left the scene for the periwinkle and orange gem to be alone in the empty kindergarten. The older gem let the lost one take everything in before she asked in disbelief with scared amber shaded eyes, "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing really.

_Just a nice talk..."_

**Sorry for the choppy and bad structured chapter, guys. I was trying to do this without the script for once. I hope you guys at least enjoyed it and all. Until the next chapter, have a good day! :)**


	7. Same Gems

Quietness filled the air around Bismuth and Jasper as they gazed into the other's eyes. The blows of nothingness through their bodies were ignored along with their surroundings. All that existed in this moment was just themselves. And this was of course true with the silent rage and confusion they delivered.

The orange gem was still trying to process what had happened as she dared not to blink. She remembered that she was about to be corrupted. She was about to be like those useless gems she held captive. Until 'Rose's hand touched her gem by force and... Cured her? She still thought it was magic or a stupid trick. But the more she touched her face, her hair, her body? The more she started to believe the truth even if it hurt her.

A crystal gem healed her. Saved her. And of course she hated that. She wanted to go up to the periwinkle gem and smash her to the ground. But she couldn't. Her body felt like it was melted to the ground or put under a spell. With all her might, she couldn't find herself moving. And it made her upset. Enraged. Angered. But not expressive of it.

As for Bismuth, she found everything confusing. Earlier she wanted to pound Jasper like she was hamburger meat. But now she wanted to get answers in a calming manner? Either someone was controlling her or she didn't understand feelings at all. It didn't matter though. No matter what she thought, she knew one thing was for sure. She didn't turn Biggs into a monster. And she knew she didn't do this just for the pleasure of killing nor revenge. There was something more.

And she needed to know now.

The more time passed, the more Jasper started to catch her breath from past shock. And when she did, she broke the silence by asking coldly, "So what are you gonna do to me, you Bismuth? Take me to your secret base? Force me to tell you where the rest of the diamonds are? Whatever you want, I'm not doing it. So leave unless you want a fight!"

"A fight does sound like something I would love to have," The older gem replied in a thinking state with her hand on her chin. "But I think it's best we don't fight."

"Why?! You think I'll beat you!"

"Not at all. Me winning or you is set in stone if we fight. For all we know, we could both shatter each other. For our sake, let's not."

"Don't you dare do that," The other gem whispered quietly with gritted teeth.

"Do what?"

"Try and talk like we're the same! We're not!"

"Of course we're not," Bismuth agreed casually. "I'm a Bismuth and your a Jasper. A Jasper that's hiding things. Things that I want to know. So tell me, Jasper? Why are you doing this? Trying to kill us Crystal Gems, I mean."

"How dare you question me," The orange gem exploded. "You should know why! Because you all want to protect this god awful planet instead of serving the diamonds! Not only that, but you're weak! All of you are! Weak for taking down Pink Diamond!"

"I know you did not just call me weak," The old new gem chuckled with hidden irritation. "You almost got corrupted because you wanted to fuse with someone who didn't like you so badly. And yet you have the guts to call me weak?!... Forget what's set in stone. Let's see who's weak." With that, the periwinkle gem turned one hand into a hammer and the other into a Roman scissor.

The sight made Jasper immediately switch her frown into a grin filled with exhilaration. This was before she suddenly made her helmet appear on her head for battle. As she got into a stance, she laughed, "Did I make the Bismuth mad? Well that's what you get for ticking me off!"

"I guess so. But you still haven't answered my question yet."

"I'm not telling you anything!"

"So be it." Finally, Bismuth dashed towards Jasper to deliver her first blow with her hammer to the chest. This was soon countered by a punch delivered that was dodge quickly. The orange gem tried to slam her head to the gem, only for her opponent to jump back and uppercut her with her hard hitting weapon once again.

The delivery caused the enemy gem to flip back, but get back on her feet swiftly. This was until she harshly blocked another incoming hit from Bismuth. She then punched her in the stomach before kicking her back as well. Luckily for the periwinkle gem, she was able to stop it with her arms. Due to the impact, she was vulnerable for her opponent. But not for long when she sidestepped from the approaching knee attack and give the other gem a slash from her Roman Scissor to the back.

The attack made Jasper yell in pain for a moment before she grabbed Bismuth and threw her across their arena. She thought the gem had given up from her so called ultimate until she jumped back into the scene with a kick. The attack was dodged but countered by the owner with a punch to the orange gem's face. The enemy gem then attacked back with a punch that was caught by the older one's arm.

With the hold, she flipped Jasper onto her back rigorously. Because she was such a hard hitter, the gem got back up and started to roll into a ball. She then spun around the area, causing Bismuth to look with determination as she concentrated on her movement. But she still didn't have enough time to stop the other from clashing into her, making her fall to the floor. With just that one attack, she started to wipe the floor with the periwinkle gem.

She thought she was winning by giving the older gem a run for her money. But what Jasper didn't know was that the more she hurt her. The more Bismuth became madder and madder. Until she exploded by getting up and grabbing the circle quickly. With the grab, her hands started to burn from the speed of her opponent's body. It gave her a hard time, but she soon threw the orange gem in the air to escape the pain.

Jasper instantly undo herself from her ball to dash head first into Bismuth. As she dived into her, her helmet'ts face started to blaze from the impact. With such a display, the periwinkle gem should've felt threatened. Or even scared. But instead, she stood with a straight face and lifted her head back a little. The orange gem continued to take on her enemy head on with a scream.

And before she knew it, Bismuth threw her head back at her, causing the two to meet with a headbutt. A headbutt that was strong enough to make a shock wave around them and shake the area around them. They didn't know who won, but they know that due to this, the rubble and dust covered the results.

That was until Jasper found herself still in tact with a cough. As for Bismuth? She didn't know. The area was so quiet for her. She didn't hear breathing nor did she see a shadow. So that was a good thing, right? She had won, right? If so, then she was rid of all her stupid questions. And was of course, still the strongest gem. At least that's what she thought.

Until she saw a figure approach through the dust slowly. It walked towards her like a zombie almost. Was it a corrupted gem? Another Crystal Gem? Actually, it was Bismuth. The periwinkle gem had been covered in scratches, her clothes were ripped, and she had a huge bruise on her head. The fact that she was still okay was enough to make the enemy gem even more scared. Why was she scared? Because she was stronger? Or because she was just like... Her...

She didn't know, but before she could try to move with her broken body, she was stopped by the older gem shouting with breaths, "Don't move! Or I swear... I will. Break your gem."

"What do you want from me," Jasper asked out loud with a mixture of fright, ignorance, and rage. "First you heal me, then you fight me! And for what?! To try and talk to me again?! If you want to use you, you can't! I won't let you-."

"Can you please!... Shut up for once. And let me talk," Bismuth interrupted as she calmed herself, making the younger gem silence herself. "My diamond, you're probably about two thousand or three thousand years old, but you're acting like a seven hundred. Grow up and let me talk instead of trying to fight every darn time!"

The enemy gem wanted to talk, but she let the periwinkle go on when she silenced her once again to continue, "I beat you since I got up first. So it's fair that I get the answers I deserve! So I need a answer to my first question... Why do you fight?"

"I don't need to answer to-," Before the orange gem could finish, her opponent aimed her hammer at her gem with a frown. With the threat given and the face delivered, Jasper had to answer in hidden fear, "I fight to destroy the ones who disobey the gems orders and try to destroy this stupid planet. Not only that, but it makes gems stronger when we fight!"

"That's not what I got from you feeling sad about the whole fusion thing," The periwinkle gem responded casually as she sat down to the hurt gem's level. "You need to tell me more. Or I'll take advantage of your fallen state and you know..."

With a laugh, the younger gem replied, "You call this a interrogation? And why are you talking to me like you know me? You don't know anything about me. You're not even like me! You don't the pain I've been through to see my diamond be killed by your leader. You don't know anything-."

"I tried to give my best friend a weapon that could stop the war only for her to poof me," Bismuth answered out of nowhere. "She then took the one I love's affections and broke them in two. I never got to say good bye to my dead friends. Since I'm a Bismuth, no one want's to fuse with me. Some nights, when I look at Steven, I want to crush him because I see Rose. And I have a thrust for battle that might not be curable... You think you have problems? Try living in my shoes."

Just like that, Jasper's true fear showed to the world. Her eyes went up in shock as her mouth opened a little with fear. She lost a special someone. But she never been through something like that and was able to say it with a straight face. The look of no mercy in Bismuth's face. Combined with such emotionless eyes. It almost made the younger gem feel like she was talking to someone else.

Like she was talking to herself before all this.

"Tell me why you fight," The periwinkle gem asked once again but with a stern tone. This made the orange gem hesitate to answer, but do so with a sigh.

"... I fight... Because it helps me forget. It helps me forget everything. Pink Diamond's death. My excuse for a team. The Crystal Gems. And fusion... At least. That's what I thought until I became corrupted once again... Because of Lapis..."

"You used to fuse with her."

"Yeah... Do you know how it feels to be fused with someone?"

"No..."

"It feels... It feels amazing. Like you're on cloud nine or something. Like a beautiful dream come true... But when I'm back to myself, I come back to this nightmare. To this... Hell... Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," The older gem answered normally. "It's only fair to do so."

"... Why do gems hate me?"

"... Gems don't hate you," Bismuth corrected with a sad sigh. "They just don't understand you. They see what's inside... Just like me... No one bothered to see what I was. Just a Bismuth. A blacksmith. Someone who either polished or made weapons. Like you. They see you as a creation. But you know what I see you as? A Jasper who has the power to do whatever she wants. Someone who can let go of everything even when it's hard to. Someone who I know will find her fusion partner soon. I see a Jasper. A beautiful yet misunderstood Jasper. And I want to help her. We want to help her... Just give us a chance. And I'll help you. I'll protect you... I'll save you..."

Before she knew it, Bismuth was being crushed by something. Or should she say someone. And that someone was Jasper. The orange gem who was now hugging her tightly as tears rolled down her back. There was no sniffs or roars of sadness. But there was closure. There was closure. There had to be closure. And through that closure, the younger gem couldn't help but blurt out through her shoulder,

"You sound just like her... Please... Help me."

With a chuckle, Bismuth replied back with a wet smile, "You don't have to ask. I will. And to start. You'll have to think for a while. And remember Jasper. You are you. And no one else." With that, Jasper's final sight for the moment, was a hammer.

_The hammer that'll save her..._   
  
**I wrote the talk while listening to Mt. Washington by Local Natives. And let's just say I shed a tear or two. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this sad chapter. And until the next one, have a good day! :)**


	8. Jasper Reborn

Back at the barn, the shorty squad found themselves heading back home due to Bismuth's orders. As they strolled down the plains, Steven couldn't help but think to himself. He knew the periwinkle gem would be okay and probably kick Jasper's butt. But would she come back? Or run away?

He trusted the old new gem, but he still had to remind himself one fatal flaw to their relationship. The fact that he doesn't know much about her. He would have if she didn't keep training with Amethyst. Or at least take breaks more. Then again, it's not completely her fault. He was kind of scared of her sometimes.

In the morning, she was a wild child. But in the evening, she could get her rage on if she wanted. Not only that, but he knew Rose still bugged her a little. Half of him knew he couldn't blame her. But the other half said this was his mother. She had a good soul. Bubbling the older gem was probably a mistake right? Or was it something more?

He wanted to think more about the matter, but this was interrupted with a nudge on his shoulder. The nudge of Amethyst, who whispered in his ear, "You alright? You've been really quite instead of trying to back my butt up with Peridot's compliments."

"Oh, um, sorry," Steven apologized with a stutter. "I was just thinking about Bismuth. And Jasper..."

"Don't tell me you're worried? This is Bismuth we're talking about. A crystal gem!"

"She's not only a crystal gem," The brown haired boy corrected to the purple gem's surprise. "She's also our friend. What if she's in trouble? Or really needs our help? What if Jasper... Really hurt her?"

"That's ridiculous," Peridot blurted out casually, getting the two other's attention. With that, the green gem continued, "Bismuth is a bismuth. A gem that can turn her body into a weapon if she wanted. Yes, she is a gem not necessary born to fight like us, but she loves the spirit of battle and can make a weapon in seconds. If anything, I can tell that she's different from the others. She's a hothead. And hotheads are hard to break. So you have nothing to worry about."

The human knew that his friend had a point. The old gem had a will to get into battle and a strong heart. But even those with strong hearts need help or can shed a tear. He knew she was capable of fighting. But was she capable of fighting Jasper? Alone? It scared him a little. But that was only for a while until another sight took his shock.

The sight of the crystal gems and Lapis, holding the rubies hostage.

Just when him and his friends thought that the trouble was over. They had to get a surprising visit from the rubies. Luckily for them, they were held captive by Lapis and the gems. But still. This only made their stress and tiredness develop drastically the more they stared at the scene. They were annoyed, surprised, and confused. The emotions flowed like a raging river, but it didn't stop them from checking out the matter.

So the three of them approached their friends for the young boy to ask his teammates, "Why are the rubies back?" getting their attention.

"We don't know," Lapis answered as she tried to hold them captive in bubbles. "But they came in their little ship acting angry. So I put them in a time out."

"Where's Bismuth," Pearl questioned with concern, looking around the area in search for her friend. The presence of the young gems was enough to tick off the purple gem. But to see the pale one worried about her teacher? It only made matters worse.

So she quickly responded, "Bismuth is busy messing with Jasper back at the Beta kindergarten."

"Jasper?! You guys ran into Jasper again?!" The question given caused Lapis to turn towards them with disbelief. Disbelief that nearly released the rubies from their cells. That was until Peridot corrected her of her near mistake. The thought of the orange gem still alive and walking frightened the blue gem and the others. What was she doing now? And why did Bismuth stay to deal with her? They needed answers. Pearl needed answers. "Is Bismuth okay?!"

"Bismuth is the least of our worries. We got these little guys to deal with."

"Amethyst is right," Garnet agreed in her normal emotionless tone. "Bismuth can take care of herself. We have to see why the rubies are back. Steven, we should release one and see why they're here."

"Can I pick," Steven asked childishly, raising his hand in excitement for a answer.

"Go for it."

The brown haired boy soon approached the trapped gems to pick his poison. He scanned the gems for a while until he pointed to his target as he called out, "How about leggy?"

"Leggy," Pearl repeated in the form of a question, only for the human to answer back,

"I named them after the placement of their gems. There's Leggy, Army, Navy, Eyeball, and, uh... Doc... But Leggy's the easiest to talk to."  
Due to this fact and the names, Lapis started to free the rubies one on one for information. Sadly, the rubies either wanted to attack them, refuse to talk, or didn't even know what to talk about. At the rate they were going, it was getting them nowhere. They started to become more annoyed with the young gems and more worried for the older ones lost at the kindergarten. Luckily for them, Doc knew exactly why they were there when she questioned in anger,  
"Where's Jasper? Last time we came, you tricked us into playing that stupid game! Then, you said 'She's on Neptune', so we looked, and she wasn't there. She wasn't on Neptune! Or any other planet in this whole dang solar system!"  
"I might know where she is," A sort of low toned voice replied out of nowhere, getting the gems eyes on her. And the person who answered was none other then Bismuth, who was covered in scratches and dirt. With her appearance, Pearl immediately ran towards the periwinkle gem, calling out her name happily before examining her while asking with concern,

"Are you okay? Why do you have bruises on you? Did Jasper hurt you badly?!"  
As the pale gem's hands explored the older gem's arms and face, Bismuth was soon able to catch them with a chuckle, answering, "I'm fine, Pearl. It was just a little fight. No harm done."  
"No harm done?! You're injured!"  
"As much as I love you worrying about me. Trust me, I love it. But I have to tell these little guys about Jasper."  
"Uh, what did happen to Jasper," Steven interrupted quietly with Amethyst on his side for the answer. But instead of answering them, the old new gem speedily grabbed the two by their arms and ran behind the trees before them to Pearl's surprise. With the three of them now hidden in the dept of leaves, a smile cracked on the periwinkle's face, whispering as she took out a orange gem,

"She's right here."

"You poof Jasper," The purple gem thought out loud for her mentor while the human stared in shock. "You got into a fight with her, didn't you? Is that why you're all bruised up like this?"

"Yeah... We fought. But we talked as well. And now I think she's a good gem because of it!"

"Really," Steven asked out loud in excitement, earning a nod from Bismuth. "Cool! Can we see her? Talk to her?! Or is she still hurt?"

"I think she's fine enough to wake up, but I don't know. I thought since those guys want Jasper or whatever, might as well give her to them. Alive..."

"That will be cool! Let's do it!"

"Hold on, Steven," Amethyst commanded. "We can't trust Jasper. She tried to kill us."

"You kinda also tried to kill her too," Her teacher added casually.

"My point being she might have tricked you, Bismuth. And she might trick us. Yeah, we can turn into Smokey Quartz again, but it might be kind of risky. What if she's stronger?"

"If Jasper tries to hurt us, I can always smash her with my hammer. But I'm pretty sure she's cool now. Don't worry. Just make sure Lapis and everyone else don't freak out."

"But-."

"Enough talk. Let's get this over with." With that being said, Bismuth laid the gem down onto the grass below, waiting for Jasper to appear with her short friends. They waited for a second in silence, the wind blowing through the awkwardness. It stayed this way until Steven blurted out with confusion,

"Uh, she's not reforming."

"Nice try, Bismuth," Amethyst told her mentor. "But you probably knocked Jasper's light's out."

"Wait," The periwinkle replied with a troublesome grin that scared the two gems. "I got a idea..."

As the three gems started with Bismuth's plan, the rest of the crystal gems had to listen to Doc's long monologue. A monologue that made them bored, worried, tired, or all of the above. They couldn't help but listen to the rubies go on and on about their problem that they kind of didn't care for.

  
"Tell us where she is right now. No games, no tricks, and no slick disguises."

  
"YEAH," The rubies agreed out loud in unison. They wanted to show the crystal gems they meant business. Show them they were strong. And show them they were ready to shatter them. But this interrupted when a deep voice called out harshly, "Hey, runts!"

  
With the call of the rubies, they and the crystal gems turned to find Bismuth, Amethyst, and Steven. But they weren't alone. They had a new comer right in front of them.

It was a orange gem who wore a sleeveless bodysuit with a light pink V-neck collar and a pink diamond in the center. It also had the torso of the bodysuit in the color carmine, and the legs are dark mahogany. She wore carmine boots with dark red toe caps. It was a orange gem that threw fear into the remaining gems.

  
It was Jasper, back good as new. And ready for action.

  
_"I'm right here..."_


	9. Trust is key

Silence filled the air around the barn as the gems exchanged looks of confusion and concern. Pearl could barely breath in the nothingness. Garnet tried to stay calm and collected. And Lapis along with Peridot were scared for their lives. Jasper was back. She was right in front of them, standing like she was about to issue their death. And it was all because of Bismuth.  
Wide eyes filled with hatred and jaws dropped were enough to alert the older gem of her 'mistake'. At least that's what her friends called it. But she knew this was a good idea. The rubies wanted their orange gem for a reason. So what would be better then to give her to them?

Nothing in the gems' book. The periwinkle was going to get a scolding. The orange gem was going to be put down with force. And there was nothing to do about it. That was until Steven blurted out from behind the reborn gem,

"Um, we can explain-."

Before he could finish sadly, Jasper was met with a dashing Pearl, Peridot and Lapis. With their weapons, they were about ready to take down the enemy gem once again. But this wouldn't happen because the old new gem was quick enough to stop them with her hammer and Roman scissor. With her choice of defense, she pushed the former yellow diamond gems out of the way before holding Pearl back.  
With her crush in her arms kicking and screaming, she shouted in refutation, "She's on our side now! Chill before I actually want to throw you down!"

"What are you doing, Bismuth," The pale gem asked with a mixture of anger and shock. "Jasper's evil! She needs to be taken down!" Pearl was brought back to her feet with Bismuth's hands on her shoulders. As they looked at each other, trying to calm down, Steven approached Garnet and Amethyst approached Peridot and Lapis to explain what the periwinkle gem has told them. Meanwhile, she told her friend quietly, "Pearl, me and Jasper talked. Everything is alright. She's good now, you can trust her."

"How can I trust someone that can stab us behind our backs any second now?"

"Hey. I'm here and I kicked her butt earlier. If she tries to hurt you, Steven, or the others? She'll have to worry about something else other then Lapis... Actually, you should try and get Lapis out of Jasper's sight for the time being."

"Bismuth... This isn't a game. This is one of yellow diamond's soldiers-."

"EX soldiers. Don't worry. I'll protect you..." With her vow, Pearl took a deep breath and nodded in understanding. Inside, she was still worried about the possible outcomes. But she still believed her old friend's words and took them seriously. She didn't know why but the way she stared at her. The way she talked to her in such a sweet tone. She had to believe her or she wouldn't be different from the other gems. They were friends after all. Right?...

Meanwhile, as the purple gem continued to describe Bismuth's encounter with Jasper, Lapis couldn't help but stare at the enemy with loathe in her eyes. The stare given was noticed quickly by the receiver, who just stared back silently. She expected the orange gem to growl or scold her out loud from afar. But what she got was a sad glance from yellow orbs. Sad eyes like the periwinkle gem's. The ones that she hated. Luckily for her, she was able to contain that hate by simply turning away.

Jasper wanted to talk to Lapis. Tell her she's sorry for trusting such a sick and twisted gem. For manipulating her. For playing the hate game. Anything to make them get on good terms for a while. But a part of her wanted to ignore her. She had to remember that the blue gem was the one that turned her like this. A deadly sadistic fighting gem. All because she didn't want to stay. It was harsh. And she was moving on slowly yet surely. But it still hurt every time she stared into those eyes she once loved.

Eyes that were covered by the cheers of little rubies for their role model. The sound of excitement and determination caught the gems surprise as one of the rubies, Eyeball, approached Jasper to greet formally with a salute.

"Jasper! I'm Ruby 1F4 Cut-4ND. I fought in the war for Earth."

"Why were you searching for me, Ruby 1F4 Cut-4ND," Jasper questioned in a stern tone, making the young ruby blush at the call of her name. This also caused for the one eye gem to continue with a stutter,

"I was on the ground in Facet 6 when I heard the tale of the Facet 9 Kindergarten Quartz that could. They said you popped out of the ground with your helmet on, and took out 80 Crystal Gems before the sun went down. When I found out this mission was to look for you, I nearly dissipated my form! It is an honor to finally meet you."

"You still didn't answer my question," The orange gem responded with hidden irritation in her voice. "Why are you here?"

"Yellow Diamond is awaiting your return back on Homeworld, of course."

"Tell her I'm not going back there." The response given was enough to surprise the small rubies in seconds along with the crystal gems. Before continuing, Jasper looked at Bismuth once more to find her give the signal to tell with a nod. Because of this, the orange gem answered,

"Because I've decided to rid all of the gems on this planet for Pink Diamond. This also explains why I have my old battle gear on too. So it would be for the best that you leave this planet... Unless you want me to do so with force."

She wanted the gems to get ready for battle. She wanted to let all of her pain and mystification out in a fight. But what got was something she didn't expect. Clapping and crying rubies who respected her devotion to her fallen diamond. Not only that, but she was given a looks of startle from the other gems. So much for a first impression, she thought.

"Yellow will definitely wanna know about this," Doc stated. "You'll have to file a report at the nearest Diamond base."

"You mean the base on the moon? Fine,I'm taking my prisoners with me too. Just hurry up before I change my mind."

"Very well, to the ship." As the rubies walked towards their ship, Jasper couldn't help but watch quietly before releasing a sigh. Bismuth then came to her side along with Steven for the human to ask with a hint of fear,

"Uh, are you okay, Jasper?"

"I think I'll be fine... I'm just trying hard not to punch your face in or kill any of your friends."

"Oh," The brown haired boy responded, quickly covering his face as he asked, "How come?"

"Because I like Bismuth. And Bismuth likes you guys. I hurt you and I'll lose her trust... I wanna hurt you so bad... But I have to push the thought into my head for my sake. The fact... That you're not Rose. But Stevan..."

"... It's Steven..."

"... Oh."

"Well just because Steven trusts you, doesn't mean I do," Pearl blurted out in soft rage. "I don't think I can ever trust you."

"Now Pearl-."

"No, Bismuth," The 'enemy' gem interrupted in a as a matter of fact tone. "She's right. She can't trust me. That's why just like with my past allies back in the war, I'll have to earn her trust. Even if I don't want to... But if it means helping out in any way, I'll do it." With her words, fear turned into surprise once again. But this time, it wasn't because of the fact that she was really there. But because of her new found attitude.

There was something about Jasper that was completely different. She was less scary and more understanding about life. It was a nice change. But also a weird one. One that everyone dealt with in their own matter soon to come as she sustained the conversation.

"I don't care if you want to kill me. I just want to get on the winning side and let this stupid war end already... I don't care what the method is, finish it. Can you gems be able to do that with me on your side?..."

"... You're not Jasper," Garnet blurted out to the orange gem's surprise. "I don't care what you say. Jasper would never be this sweet... But real Jasper or fake. I trust you."

"... Um. Thank you..."

"You know I trust you," Amethyst answered out loud as she gave Jasper a hug, causing her to blush. "Besides, we're like sisters, right? Sisters stick together! Even if they try to kill each other." The closure could've went on for longer if the older gem didn't growl her off in an embarrassing manner, grunting they weren't related. If that didn't show Garnet she was the real deal, she didn't know what did.

"You're a pain," Peridot stated in a stern tone. "A lousy leader, a hothead, and a idiot... But I think you're strength might come in handy for our battle. So you're free to team up with me."

"Out of all these crystal runts, I care about your trust the least," Peridot's old leader revealed, making her shrug the complaint off like dust. She knew she needed to earn Pearl's trust and had everyone else's. But there was one more person who she still needed trust from. The one who she was trying to stay away from. The gem that made her life a living hell.

And that was Lapis, who rolled her eyes when the yellow shaded orbs met her's. With the cold shoulder delivered, Jasper almost tried to apologize to her. Only for the blue gem to intervene,

"I don't care what you have to say. You had my trust once, but you blew it. And you're not getting it back. So save your breath for space and get out of my sight... I hate you..."

"... Well... That's funny. Since I still love you, Lapis... I. I should hate you. But I can't help but think about you sometimes and... And about Malachite... I miss. What we had... But if we can't get it back, tell me. Just tell me so we can move on and still be friends at least. I just don't want to hurt you again. Not again..."

Instead of getting a answer out of her past partner, Lapis stood in silence as she turned her back to Jasper. This also caused the green gem to comfort her softly. Due to this, the orange gem found herself feeling something warm in her gut boil like water. Her head got hot and a lump developed in her throat. It felt like something was going to be released, but it didn't. And it hurt so much. So much that the 'enemy' gem had to conclude it all with a quiet,

"T-That was my last attempt. I'll try not to talk to you anymore. And you do the same... Crystal r-... Gems. If you don't want to cause a commotion, you'll have to come as my prisoners."

"Aye aye, captain," Bismuth replied playfully even though there was so much negativity around her. "Let's go-. I mean. Darn! We're going to be tortured by yellow diamond!" With that, she walked towards the ship with the rest of the crystal gems as they put on a gloomy facade. As they did this, Jasper couldn't help but lead the way with Steven by her side, staring at her with worry. Worry that soon made him question,

"Are you going to be okay?"

"I'll grow out of it, Stephen... As long as Bismuth and Amethyst can chill me out and you guys don't screw this up, we'll be fine... Just fine..."

The orange gem thought at least that her words were true. But she would never know until the future. But for now, she had to stay strong. She was back to her regular self, she was free. And when she looked at the young Ruby who turned curiously before her, eye filled with so much hope and innocence, she knew...

_That everything might change for the better._


	10. Mission Attraction

Inside the ship, the rubies immediately went to their stations while Jasper watched quietly waiting to be impressed. But unlike the orange gem, Pearl wasn't impress at all. If anything, she was still conflicted as to if she can trust the 'enemy' gem or not. For all they knew, she could actually give them to yellow diamond. Or have them shattered right in front of her. Either way, it wasn't a nice thought for the pale gem.

Garnet and Bismuth could tell that the formal gem was having problems with matters. But they both knew she would grow out of it. Steven and Amethyst did in seconds, so of course Pearl would come around sooner or later. For the periwinkle gem, right? The old gem wished but then denied the thought as she shook her head in silence. She knew her friend would never do something like that. Unless she was a certain Rose Quartz that is.

The thought of something like that coming into place almost angered Bismuth. That was until she heard Amethyst ask quietly beside her, "So, how is this going to work," to her surprise.

After coming back to reality, the old new gem replied, "Oh, well um... Jasper is going to take us to the moon base and... Um... Yeah, I didn't plan it out fully."

"Of course. We have to improvise. Be glad Pearl isn't listening to any of this. She would get really upset if we didn't have a real plan."

"Pearl... Say, Amethyst," The purple gem's mentor called out sadly, getting the gem's attention. "Do you think... That me and Pearl could ever... Have a connection like her and Rose? A connection to where we can... Fuse?"

"FUSE!?" The shout of the word was enough to make the rubies stop their activity and stare cautiously. The awkward moment could've became worse if not explained. But before the red gems could do anything to their 'prisoners', Jasper held up a hand to yell out herself,

"Shut up, you filthy gems! And don't you dare try to think of fusing! Because if you do, I'll feed your shards to the corrupted!" Jasper's little army cheered at the threat given, exchanging comments on how awesome the orange gem was. With the save from any harm, the purple gem had to sigh in relief before she continued in a whisper to her teacher.

"Sorry. But out of all the gems you can get stronger with. You want to fuse with Pearl? Don't you think that's kind of a mistake?"

"Amethyst, Rose fused with Pearl," Bismuth corrected with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Rose fused with everyone! Pearl was just someone she would fuse with sometimes, not all the time."

"You make it sound like she's just another gem that can only be used like the other Pearls. She's not like them, okay- She's different."

"Of course she's different. We all know that-."

"Hey, you two," Garnet interrupted casually but quietly. "Quiet down or the rubies will grow suspicious." The command made the two gems sit in silence, waiting for this mission to end already. While they did so, Steven couldn't help but examine the two in their angered state. He didn't know what was up, but he really wanted to help. Sadly, now was not the time. He didn't want to cause the rubies to grow worried or suspicious about them. So all he could do was relax as he could until their arrival on the moon.  
Meanwhile, Jasper was continuing to watch the young red gems in silence. That was until Doc approached her role model to blurt out while pointing to a seat before them. "Jasper, please feel free to take my seat right up front. The captain's seat. It would be a honor."  
"Fine then," The orange gem replied, walking towards the leader's chair to sit in it carefully. As she started to get comfortable and situated, Doc told her at anytime if she's ready, she can start the ship. So without hesitation, the older gem tapped on coordinates in a pattern and started the machine's engine. With the transportation now underway, the 'enemy' gem suddenly turned to look at the rubies.  
As her eyes scanned the room, she saw something in common with all of them. They were all seated in their own chair, doing a certain task for the ship. All except for Doc, who just stood there staring at the main pilot. Something about this made Jasper pretty upset. She didn't like workers slacking off. Nor did she like unequal rights. So for her sake and the ruby before her's, she had no choice but to put the young one on her lap.  
The action made the red leader gem blush furiously before the orange gem stated, "I don't like you slacking off... But I also don't want you to be any different from them. Since I took your seat, you can sit on my lap for the remainder of the trip."  
"R-Really," Doc asked in disbelief, staring into yellow orbs with dark red ones.  
"D-Don't get the wrong idea, okay," The 'enemy' gem shouted back, now with a shy blush on her cheeks. "It just wouldn't feel right if you stood the entire time!"  
"Uh, okay... To the moon then?"  
"To the moon then."

"To the moon then," The rubies agreed out loud as they started the ship to the moon. As they flew through space to their destination, Jasper scanned the ship one more time to see if everyone was alright. The rubies had their eyes on their controls while they all worked as a team. The sight of teamwork made the older gem wonder if that's how the crystal gems worked on their missions. If so, how could she do it?  
They were all so quiet. So cooperative. It was like something she hasn't seen in years. She's always been told that a team was like a army. People who would jump into battle without worrying about who dies and only caring about themselves. Was that wrong? Was there more to a team then just blood shed?  
She wish she could try and think about it. But her thoughts were interrupted when she saw the crystal gems on the floor. They all sat on the cold ground, looking down at the orange painted metal in a hush. Sadness and disarray apparent on their faces. And betrayal in their eyes. They were truly upset. But what were they upset about? Herself? Bismuth? The rubies? She has been kept in the shadows for a while.

But with the crystal gems, she promised herself to not be in darkness ever again. So, with that in mind, Jasper tapped Doc's shoulder to whisper in her ear, warmth sending a shiver down the red gem's spine. "I want you to continue navigating to the moon while I check on the prisoners. Got it?"

"Yes Jasper," The ruby in shades answered back timidly. "Good idea."

The orange gem walked quietly towards the 'prisoners', causing the pale gem to scream in fake agony. As much as she wanted to earn Pearl's trust, the older gem really wanted her to shut up too. So as soon as she met with her 'friends', she instantly scolded mildly, "Shut up, Pearl! One of those little runts want to throw you into space and if you don't shut up, I'll consider that happening."

"Are you bi-polar," Steven asked with curiosity that caused Bismuth to laugh softly with Amethyst. It might have been funny to them, but the question caused the person given it to yell back,

"Why would I be bi-polar, Rose- I mean. Stevan?! It's not my fault you're ticking me off and making me blow a fuse!"

"Nah, she ain't bi-polar, Steven," The periwinkle gem answered for the orange one, only for the purple gem to add that she hoped not. "She's just upset... And I can understand why. Must be hard trying to control rubies."

"You do know I'm a ruby too, right," Garnet declared with a hidden questioning look on her face.

"No. You're a Garnet. A mixture of Ruby and Sapphire, duh," Bismuth responded sarcastically until she turned to her orange friend to continue, "Also, don't get mad at Pearl. She's just trying to help is all. Even if she's doing a kind of bad job at it."

"Sorry, Bismuth," Jasper apologized. "I guess I'm just stressed out. And by the looks of it, you guys aren't doing any better are you?"

"Uh, I think you should really be saying that about that ruby over there." The periwinkle gem pointed to Eyeball, who was wiping her face harshly. With the red gem now the center of their attention, Jasper stared carefully for a moment before asking in a shy manner,

"What's up with her?"

"Maybe she's upset about not being a leader," Amethyst responded before a evil grin appeared on her face suddenly. "Or maybe she's jealous."

"Jealous? Jealous of what?"

"Jealous of the real leader of course, Doc! You did let her sit on your lap, remember?"

"T-That was only because she didn't have anywhere to sit," The orange gem shouted out, now with a blush on her face once again.

"But you're blushing."

"You did this to me," Jasper whispered with a growl as she touched her face to feel her blood rush up her cheeks. With the warmth, she then pointed to Bismuth to continue, "You did this too. All because of you're stupid love for one another!"

"Aw, you love them," Steven awed playfully, causing the periwinkle and purple gems to chuckle quietly before the orange gem interrupted,

"I do not love them!"

"Well, if you don't want to be a lover, at least be a friend," Pearl blurted out from beside Garnet, surprising Jasper with the upcoming advice. "They already think we're allies. Get on their good side and they'll really think you're the Jasper they know and love... Just food for the thought."

"... Wow, Pearl, thanks," The orange gem replied with a small smile. "I will... But I don't love her nor the others, got it?!"

"Suuure."

"By the way, Bismuth... I can see what you like about her." With the statement and the examination of the pale gem, Jasper winked at her friend before leaving. Due to this, the old new gem couldn't help but start to blush herself before wiping the comment off her shoulders. As she did so, she watched as he orange gem cleaned Eyeball's face and talked to her calmly. By then, Bismuth knew that Jasper would be a pain, but would also be a good crystal gem.

The gems soon made onto the moon base, where they exit the ship to make their way to talk to yellow diamond. While they walked through the empty hall, the rubies', Jasper's and Bismuth's eyes couldn't help but scan the murals on the walls. There was yellow diamond, white diamond, blue diamond, and pink diamond. The sight made the gems wonder about their past for a while along with making Steven wonder who were they exactly. As their eyes laid on the diamonds, Eyeball told them suddenly,

"Look at this place, frozen in time. An era-one base.Her era-one base. It was a tragedy, what happened to her. Pink Diamond... Jasper, you want to do the honor of talking about it?"

"I..." The orange gem tried to find words quickly but instead sighed and replied sadly, eyes on the ground. "I'd rather not..."

"I understand. She was your original diamond."

"Yeah," Jasper answered before her eyes met with Steven's. She could see the confusion in his eyes. His own eyes that was also her's. The one who took her away from her. In that moment, she could understand why Bismuth wanted to shatter or kill him some nights. She wanted to do so now. But when she looked at the periwinkle once more, all she could do was follow the rubies up the staircase given with them as they listened to the story of Pink Diamond.

"Earth was Pink Diamond's colony. Everything was going smoothly at first. Kindergartens were incubating their first soldiers. Big, warm pieces of quartz, like this mountain over here," Eyeball signaled to Jasper for a example. "were being created from its rich minerals with great success. Then, bam! One of Pink Diamond's very own quartz soldiers started a rebellion and took it too far. Where were you when it happened, Jasper?"

"Shattering gems around the area," The 'enemy' gem answered with hint of annoyance. "I saw it."

"I saw it too. Saw it with my own eye. I watched the leader of the crystal gems, Rose Quartz, shatter Pink Diamond!"

With just that one statement, the crystal gems and the rubies froze where they stood. Terror corrupted their bodies as all of them shared looks of fright. They all knew it was true, even Bismuth did as she tried to comfort Pearl with Amethyst. They couldn't lie, but Steven couldn't believe. The brown haired boy couldn't help but yell out to them with anger and tears,

"Rose Quartz would never do that! A-And, sure, she had to fight but... But she would never shatter someone-."

"Rose DID shatter Pink Diamond," The 'enemy' gem responded with equal pain in her heart. "Don't be in denial about this! She shattered her! I don't care what these crystal gems told you, but she shattered my leader! The only one who kept peace. The only one who made us who we are now! The only one who actually loved me!!"

The out burst caused all of the gems around to stare in silence. As they did so, Bismuth couldn't help but signal Amethyst to comfort the orange gem. She tried to do so until Doc came from the room above to tell her role model that there was a problem. Because of this, the 'enemy' gem decided it was best that the crystal gems stayed on the bottom floor while she checked out the problem. Due to this, she followed the rubies while the other gems stood near the ship in silence.

Garnet stood on the wall in reticence while Bismuth did the same. Pearl paced around the area, trying to forget it all. Amethyst sat on the ground to cool off. And Steven stared at the mural of the fallen diamond. There was no way Pink Diamond was shattered by his mom, Steven told himself. He didn't believe it. And he wasn't going to. He didn't care of Bismuth or Garnet told him. He wouldn't believe a single word.

The quietness went on for a while until Jasper and the rubies reappeared onto the scene. The group of gems said their goodbyes to the orange gem before they went inside their ship to head back to Homeworld. With the small red gems now in their transportation, the 'enemy' gem approached the crystal gems to tell them, "I told them to file the report for me. They won't be coming back anytime soon hopefully..."

Instead of getting a answer out of them, Jasper was immediately given a hug by Bismuth. A hug that was easily given back by the other before Amethyst joined in. The closure went on for a while as they poured their emotions into it. That was until Doc exit the ship to ask calmly, "You guys want a ride back to Earth?" This favor was soon denied by herself when she saw that the gems hugged in front of her. It was at that moment that Doc knew that the rubies were tricked.

"It's not what it looks like-."

"You tricked us? Again!? Rubies assemble!"

With her command, the rubies exit out of their ship to fuse into a Quin-triple Ruby. With their fusion, they planned to put up a good fight. That was until Steven opened the door to space for Pearl and Garnet to fuse into Sardonyx, hitting the rubies outside with their hammer. This worked and unfuse the rubies, but their victory came with a price. Steven, who was pulled by the red gems into the dept of space.

The gems wanted to exit the area, but it was too dangerous. But might not be so for Jasper, since she jumped out of the base towards Steven. With this, Bismuth couldn't help but shout out to them. "Steven! Jasper!" She wanted to go and save them, but it was too risky and too late. Garnet unfuse with Pearl to get the periwinkle gem and head into the ship. With this, they left the scene safely, But worried about Steven and Jasper's. All they could do for the moment,

_Was hope that they were okay..._   
  
**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It'll take a while for the next chapter since this story has a weekend schedule. But I hope you guys can survive. By the way, because I'm curious, who do you guys ship with Jasper? Feel free to tell me. And until the next chapter, have a good day! :)**


	11. No one can hear me

Steven's eyes were met with pitch black, dashed with the sight of pink for a second. His vision was probably the reason for this, he thought. But it could also be because of the impact given to him by the rubies. With that name, he remembered like the back of his hand what happened.

Eyeball had to go and tell him about Rose killing Pink Diamond. Had to go and lie just because she was sad. But he didn't care what the ruby told him. It wasn't true at all and he knew it... But he asked himself. If he knew it, then what was the feeling he was experiencing at this moment? He could feel heat in his body. Almost like something was about to explode inside him. It was weird, yet also scary.

But not as scary as the scene he was given when his eye sight became normal. He found himself in a bubble in the dept of space. Floating around without a care in the world as he watched the other rubies scatter through the endless nothingness. They were visible for a while until they faded into the final frontier like dying stars. Even though they gave him a hard time, he wanted to help them out. Sadly, he had to help himself first.

He soon realized that he was in space. Home to stars and unknown life. Along with meteors. So when he saw himself drifting through the area without a care in the world, his brain immediately clicked. The young boy was in the face of yet another danger. One that only he could deal with himself. And how would he deal with the matter at this moment?

By screaming...

That was until he came face to face with someone. Literally. As the stranger clashed with his protection out of nowhere. The human was afraid as to who came across his way before the figure revealed herself. And that person was none other then someone he kinda didn't want to be with.

Jasper.

The orange gem held onto the bubble for dear life before she shouted from outside with concern, "Staven! Thank the diamonds you're still alive!"

"Jasper," Steven yelled back from inside his bubble with a mixture of relief and fear. "Where are the others?! Is it just you?"

"Uh-."

"YOU," A young yet deep angered voice called out from behind the older gem suddenly. At first, the brown haired boy didn't know who tagged along with Jasper. He actually thought it was Amethyst for a second due to the voice being a little high pitch. But when the gem showed herself from the orange one's back, the boy's fear developed even more into terror.

The gem who was with his friend was none other then Eyeball.

The human screamed once again at the fact that he was stuck in space. Now with two gems who could stab him in the back any second now. But luckily, he was in a bubble, the one thing that kept him oxygen and served as a shield. And instead of trying to kill him, the red gem was held back by Jasper to look out through the empty space. Their eyes connected with Earth as it drifted away slowly from their sight. Due to this, Steven couldn't help but whisper to himself sadly,

"There goes Earth..."

"There goes my whole platoon," Eyeball growled in Jasper's grasp. Her whining about her failed mission was enough to make Steven annoyed for a while. As for the orange gem? She was more then annoyed. She was angered.

"Shut up, runt," She shouted as loud as she could, startling both young ones. "If anything, it's your fault this happened. All because you and your stupid team couldn't stop drooling over me! If you would have just got off my butt, I- We wouldn't be here! But no! I'm your precious Jasper!"

"How about you shut your trap, traitor," The one eyed ruby backfired. "I thought you was one of yellow diamond's elites. One of the best. But you was only a failure. A mess up just like the others who joined Rose Quartz. You're a weakling and a phony!"

"That's enough you two," The brown haired boy interrupted through his protection. "I'm upset about what happened too, but we can't just go and yell at each other. We got to find a way out of this. Or at least wait. So can you guys please leave it alone? At least until the crystal gems or someone finds us?" His command was a hard one for the older gem. Actually, she thought to herself.

She was with Steven and Eyeball. Alone in space. She could just smash Steven and Eyeball then be free from all of this. But then again, there was still Bismuth to worry about. She was like Steven's caretaker in a way, at least one of them. If she knew that her little meatball had died? From her hands? She would be more then shattered.

As for the ruby that accompanied them, she could honestly not give a darn about what happens. As long as her mission was complete and she went back home, she could do whatever she wanted right now. Then again. Jasper was with her. One of Pink Diamond's best gems. One wrong move and she was over with.

So with a sigh and a look at one another, the two gems decided to listen to Steven's orders. Due to this, the orange gem still kept a good lock on the red gem while they relaxed for a while with the human. The two gems had something to do. The older tried to find a way to communicate with the gems. And the younger gem stayed in silence while watching for her team. The human? Nothing. All he could do was wait. But as he waited, he couldn't help but ask a simple question.

How were the crystal gems doing?

* * *

 

Meanwhile, on the rubies spacecraft, the crystal gems were searching for Steven in silence. The sound of the ship's engine was the only thing filling the air other then anxiety. The fact that they have lost Rose's son made the gems upset. Made them feel as if they had failed the woman ultimately. Well, that's how the main three felt as the monitored the ship's mechanics.

Bismuth on the other hand? All she did ever since the young boy departed from them was pace. Walk back and forth while trying not to break the room as the seconds passed. Her footsteps blended with the sound of the spacecraft. But her rage was apparent.

She was upset about losing Steven. But that wasn't it. She was also upset about... Everything. Eyeball for telling the boy about the shattering of Pink Diamond. Jasper for being too harsh on him. And the crystal gems still kissing Rose's behind for being such a goddess.

It was weird that she was still upset about being poof, she admitted to herself. But this went deeper then that. She kept asking most of the time. How could the gems still look at her like a hero after all the bad things she's done? She would understand why Steven does so, that's his mother! But everyone else? There was no excuse.

She wasn't there the past thousand of years, but she could tell that her leader put them through hell. With Garnet for making her lead a team she can't lead. With Amethyst for being insecure of herself. And with Pearl for leaving her in the friend zone. The reasons were all there. But they didn't talk about it at all. Were they blind? Do they just don't care? Why was Rose so 'worthy'? What was so perfect about her?

The thoughts came rushing in like a erupting volcano. And just like one, the periwinkle gem exploded by slamming her fist into the wall next to her. Because of the impact, the crystal gems turned to their friend for her to yell in fury, "How?! How can you guys just sit here and use this ship to find Steven?"

"Don't you think we're worried about him too," The purple gem responded at the same volume of her teacher. "We're trying as hard as we can. Just chill."

"Amethyst is right," Garnet agreed in a casual tone. "We shouldn't lose ourselves over this."

"So what," The periwinkle gem continued, even louder then earlier. "We should just hope that he's okay or something? Forget that! He's probably in trouble and we need to find him asap."

"Steven is okay, Bismuth," Pearl blurted out, not bothering to turn to her friend as she kept her eyes on the endless darkness. "He has to be..."

"Oh yeah. Because he's Rose, right? So he has to be okay, right? He's not Rose, he's Steven. And he's a kid! Rose was a user and manipulator!"

"Don't you dare say that, Bismuth."

"Say what? The truth? Rose used all of us for her stupid cause! A cause that had to go and kill a diamond. And for what? Because someone like her wants to save the human race? I could have done it even better without trying to go and make a enemy out of everyone like her! I would've been a better leader then she ever was! We all would've been!"

With that remark, the ship came to a immediate stop. The impact almost made the periwinkle fall down until her eyes met with her friends. In seconds, the pale gem got out of her seat to approach her with a frown. As she did, the two others sat quietly with hidden rage concealed in their eyes. They wanted to jump in and say something, but when it came to Rose? They both knew Pearl was the voice of truth.

So Pearl responded with irritation, "Stop it, Bismuth! Rose was a great leader! She cared deeply about us and the humans as more as we do. And we could never come close to her. Her words and advice made us stronger. Able to protect Earth. Even if she did many things differently."

"Even if she made Garnet now control a team all by herself? If she made Amethyst so scared and uncertain about who she is? Or even if she made you stay a friend when you deserve way better then her? Yeah, shattering a gem, lying, and treating you like garbage? Yep. Leader of the rule."

The nothingness in the air was interrupted when a smack was echoed through the area. A smack that was made by Pearl's hand meeting with Bismuth's face. Because of the sound given, the two other crystal gems quickly turned in their chairs to find the periwinkle touch her face, feeling the mark delivered for a minute. As she did, the pale gem in front of her took a step back, in shock of what she's done. She expected the old new gem to attack back due to her fighting instinct. But instead, she was given something else then a punch.

She was given tears. The tears of Bismuth. They started as small drops until they gradually became waterworks. This surprised the gems on the ship in that moment before the periwinkle gem replied through tears, "She lied to you... S-She left you. Left me. I know I... We have Steven. But it feels like she walked out on us. Just for herself... W-Who would do that to her friends? To her son?! Who would leave you guys to fend for yourself? To live a life that you don't understand? To go and take anything she wanted?... Like you..."

"Bismuth... I'm so-."

"I... I liked... No. I. I loved you, Pearl. I loved you more then her. I loved all of you guys like a family. And you like something more. But she took you away from me... Now I know why... I... I don't want to stay with you guys. I know you hate me. You just could've told me you did... Nevermind... I'm gonna go find Steven and bring him back... See ya."

Bismuth then ran towards her friends, pass Pearl and typed something into the controls. Afterwards, she ran out of the ship through the exit for the crystal gems to watch. The three of them wanted to get her, but all they could do was watch their friend leave once again.

In hopes that she comes back...

* * *

 

Back in the dept of space, the three lost gems found themselves still drifting in the nothingness. The hush around them stayed for a while as Steven checked his phone quietly. There was no connection sadly, even if he was near a satellite. If he wasn't going to die from the starving, thirst, or oxygen lost, he might die from boredom.

As he became upset about the matter at hand, Jasper and Eyeball kept looking out to space, thinking in silence about what happened. About Rose, Steven, the other gems... Pink Diamond...

The thought of their old leader was enough to make the one eyed ruby clear her throat. With that, she got the orange gem's attention to blurt out, "When I heard rumors there might still be Crystal Gems on Earth, I couldn't believe it. A thousand years of fighting were all for nothing! And Rose Quartz might still be alive? She must be! Why else would someone as important as you be back on Earth? For closure. I know. I wanted it, too. I wanted to see Rose Quartz with my own eye. At the very least, I thought you might have some answers, but... It was just another trick..."

This made the older gem turn to the red gem for black orbs to meet with yellow ones. Ones that were filled with so much depression. Depression that Eyeball had never seen before. The look shook her core in just a small amount of time. With their stare into each other's eyes, Jasper blurted out with a small frown,

"You really would love to see Rose Quartz would you?"

"More then anything..."

"... Ruby... Or. Should I call you Eyeball?"

"Why would you ask that? Not that it matters anymore since we'll die out here..."

"I just want to say I'm sorry," The orange gem blurted out to both Eyeball and Steven's, who was now listening quietly, shock. "I really am... If you can't tell, I'm trying to do what Bismuth did to me and... What's it called? 'Kill you softly with words.' "

"Oh really now," The one eyed ruby asked in a cocky tone as Steven simply hit his head in frustration. He already knew killing someone with words wasn't supposed to be told to the receiver. Then again, they were gems, not humans. So all he could do was watch and hopefully things might go the way it's supposed to be even with the spoiler alert. "Give me all you got."

"Okay then... When I saw you all alone and teary eye on the ship, I thought you needed company. So I talked to you. And I'm glad I did since you looked like you really needed it. Also, I could tell you needed closure just like me as well. Because when I looked into your eyes. Just as Bismuth looked into mine. I could see me in them. You was sad, depressed, and broken. And I wanted to fix you. Make us be allies for the right side... But I guess I failed you. And I truly apologize for that..."

When Jasper met with Eyeball's eye once again, she found the young gem shedding a tear in defeat. The sight made the orange gem smile before laughing triumphantly to the boy's surprise. Personally, he thought this would end with thoughtful hugs and sorry's. But he guessed that for gems, it was just another battle. And Jasper won of course.

"That was... That was beautiful... I'm hurting. In a good way."

"Ha! I win!"

"Y-You hurt me with such grammar... I. I respect you... I actually. Like you more now..." The ruby then wiped her tear away before hugging her role model closely. The closure caused the older gem to blush a little before hugging back. As she hugged the young one, she kept whispering that she won like she never had in years. Still, it might've been a win for her, but not for the human boy in the bubble. He had to say it once again to himself and out loud.

"That's not how 'killing someone kindly' works!"

He would go into a rant about it. He would even scold Jasper for doing it so badly. But it didn't matter, at least they stopped fighting now. And everything was okay for the moment...

That was until he felt something hit his bubble out of nowhere. From the way it sounded, it was probably something hard and maybe deadly. Whatever it was, it got the boy's attention. And it got it again when the same object clashed into his protection. This time, he was able to get a good look at the threat. And it was something small, but something that came in all shapes and sizes. Because of the presence of the object, Steven quickly called out Jasper and Eyeball to check the source out.

"Jasper! Eyeball!"

"That's not my-." Before she could finish, Jasper grabbed her from behind and laid on the bubble. With the young gem in her grasp, the ruby was about to become flustered by the action. But that had to wait when the orange gem got back up to find the cause of Steven's caution coming straight for them. And that was a asteroid belt. Eyeball stared in surprise along with her role model before stating, "Asteroids incoming. Take cover, soldier!"

"Don't be dumb," The older gem replied then put the young one on her back. "Steven's okay in that bubble. It's you and me that needs to survive this. Also, I ain't your soldier." Jasper jumped, slid and sidestepped to get her and Eyeball out of harm's way. It proved as a challenge at first, but even with a few obstacles, she was able to survive the belt while protecting the young ruby.

"We made it," Steven blurted out with a nervous chuckle. The sound made all three of them share a laugh with one another. Even if they didn't meet eye to eye, they had to admit, they didn't know they would survive. But luckily they did. Who knows? Maybe they were meant to be a good team.

"I'm unstoppable-." Eyeball was interrupted when a asteroid came dashing towards her and Jasper. Of course, the older gem acted quickly to it, but the ruby was too late. She was hit right in the gem by the huge rock like object, with the force sending her floating into space slowly but very far from the two other gems. This was a scare to both of them, but the orange gem immediately jumped off the bubble and towards the one eyed ruby, grabbing her luckily.

With Jasper now drifting away, the human boy was hopefully able to grab both of them with his bubble and suck them into it. As they try to settle in the small pink space, the older gem asked quietly to the one who adored her. "Hey, you alright?" Instead of getting a answer verbally, she got one visually. And Eyeball wasn't okay at all. In fact, her gem was cracked.

The sight made Steven worried along with his friend. What could he do about it? What could they do about it? This was a question the boy had in his mind... Until he turned on his thinking and realized something. He could heal gems. So with that fact, the brown haired human blurted out, "Let me heal her!"

"I-I don't need your help, human," The ruby responded out loud. Only for Jasper to hold her down with her hands on the other's wrist. The young gem kicked and tried to bite the older one, but nothing worked. She was stuck in place. She had to be healed. With this, Steven was able to go in for the kill. He lick Eyeball's gem carefully before she hit him back with her foot.

"Are you crazy," She shouted out in rage as her role model let go of her. "What in the cosmos is wrong with... You... Two?" Before she could scold them even more, the one eyed ruby saw that her gem was being sealed up from the saliva. Her gem was good as new. With this act of help, the human boy shook his head to cheer in a childish manner,

"Ta da! I healed you!"

"How did you-."

"Apparently, Stephen can fix gems with his spit," Jasper stated normally, cleaning her hands on her carmine shirt as if they were dirty. "It's disgusting. But it works. It's how I'm still here..."

"Really?... There were rumors back during the war, that Rose Quartz could heal her Crystal Gem soldiers, keeping her small army in contention with the superior forces of Homeworld... You really are Rose Quartz!"

"No, he's Steven."

"Uh, yeah... That's. Kind of getting on my nerves, actually." The two other gems commented on the title, but even with the action, Eyeball couldn't help but laugh. The unknown laughter made the young boy do the same, but caused the orange gem to be a little worried. The small amount of vexation soon turned into a big one when the act became out of control. Soon, Jasper suddenly found herself holding Steven back in a protective manner.

The action confused the human even more. But that soon changed when the ruby's laughter died out for her to whisper, "The mighty Rose Quartz... I've been waiting for this day..."

"Huh?"

"To take your gem!" She could've done so if it wasn't for the orange gem to throw Steven back. With this action, Jasper grabbed Eyeball to throw her down easily. That would've been the case if she didn't slash the gem's shirt lightly in defense. This and the sight of the torn diamond now on her, caused the ruby's role model to punch her in the face, sending her bouncing in the bubble like a beam of light.

This scared Steven until he made the bubble as big as he could to stop the red gem's altitude. This worked, but also gave the two gems room to brawl in front of the human. As they delivered attacks to one another, the boy begged for the two to stop, but it didn't help at all. They fought for a while with Eyeball using her chisel knife to equal that of Jasper's bare strength.

The older gem threw punch after punch at the younger one for her to dodge them as quick as she could. The ruby then gave her opponent a stab at her face, that was caught by the other as she grabbed the attacker's wrist. She then slammed the attacker towards the bubble making her bounce once again. But this time, as she bounced Jasper started to grab the one eyed ruby and slam her down a couple of times for the young one to be lost in battle.

"That's what you get for trying to hurt Stevan, you little runt," She blurted out in determination. The battle was in her favor. Jasper was going to defeat Eyeball and take Ruby back to the gems. That would be the case, if she didn't feel a sharp pain in her back. With the sudden feeling, she heard Steven gasp in front of her as he closed his mouth with his hands in shock. She already knew that wasn't a good sign. What happened? Why was he like this? And why was it silent again? She knew why...

Eyeball stabbed her in the back.

With this action, the young ruby couldn't help but blurt out sadly, "Sorry, Jasper. But you left me no choice..."

"... Darn it. Got taken down again?... Well, at least you two are still okay." The statement was enough to make the two young ones look in utter surprise as she continued with a crooked smile. "If you got shattered or anything, Bismuth would've shattered me. And if you. Ruby. Got shattered or anything. I wouldn't know what to do. When I looked at you two. You guys remind me of them. Do me a favor and tell Lapis and Peridot I'm sorry. Stephan, Eyeball. Play nice while I'm gone."

"Y-You make it sound like you won't come back... You're just stabbed. You'll come back, right soldier?"

"Maybe... Who knows. I might rest for a while. Finally get away from all this stupid crap. It's for the best... Oh, and Eyeball."

"Yes, Jasper?"

"... I-." Before she could finish, Jasper poof right in front of Steven and Eyeball. The scene alone made the two gems stare in shock for a while. Tears fell down the boy's eyes while one shed from the ruby's eye. Their waterworks hit the floor as the human blurted out with grief,

"She protected me. She didn't know anything about me but she protected me... Why? Why did she have to go? She didn't do anything wrong!"

He expected a answer from the red gem, but all she did was turn away from the boy and sat in silence. While she cried more secretly, the human took his friend's gem and held it in his hands for warmth. It wasn't enough but he had no choice. Jasper would want this... At least until she comes back... The sat their. In the bubble. In silence.

In the cold.

In the endless dept of space.

Before a beam of light saved them.

_But it was too late..._

**Yo, I'm sorry about the chapter being choppy and all. I was just tired and it wasn't a good day for me. But I promised a chapter and a chapter you will get! Anyway, I'm still sorry about the quality of this. This isn't even the full chapter I had plan, it was supposed to be way longer then this. But that's for tomorrow. I hope you guys enjoyed this and until the next chap, have a good day! :)**


	12. Floating Away

The young gems opened their eyes to find themselves in a bright orange area. The place looked almost like a futuristic room that was out of this world. But they couldn't put their finger on where they were. That was because three bodies were covering their view.

That was the bodies of the crystal gems, crowded around them like doctors who were working on a patient. But instead of having concentration on their face, they were all covered in utter concern. Amethyst stared at them with startle, Garnet looked in worry, and Pearl was on the edge of crying.

The multiple expressions given made Steven feel sorry for them. He didn't want to make his friends worried about him all the time. And when he did, he would always want to apologize for making them do so. Like right now.

Eyeball, on the other hand, found this concern delivered confusing. She couldn't help but ask herself how could they be troubled with her state? It didn't add up. She wasn't a crystal gem and she barely knew any of them except for Steven. Not to mention no one was supposed to worry about her or her health. That is except for a few. But they weren't there...

When the two of them finally earned their vision back, the young boy immediately was given a group hug by both Pearl and Amethyst. The two gems cried on his shoulder as they told him how worried they were. The action made the boy even more sad for them, but also surprised for the emotions poured on him. Actually, with the concern he was given, the hard work that was delivered to him from them? He couldn't help but almost cry himself. Even Garnet had to shed a few tears herself.

But not just yet. Something was off. The brown haired boy didn't feel it, but he could see it. The room felt a little empty without something. It wasn't Jasper, he had her in his hands. But it was a certain gem that he just met. Someone who cared deeply for him just like the crystal gems. Maybe more. And when he realized she was gone, he quickly asked with mystification,

"Um. W-Where's Bismuth?"

The question delivered instantly turned the gems worried tears into panic ones. They knew Steven was here with them. And surprisingly so was Eyeball. But where was their savior? Where was the periwinkle gem? The mystery made the pale gem shiver slightly while the purple one looked down sadly. The fusion before him wanted to say something, but words couldn't escape her mouth. And with the awkward silence, the boy had to ask once more with fret now present in his voice.

"Guys. Where's Bismuth?"

"... She went out to look for you. After we got into a argument about your mother... She should be with you since she said she would get you back, but-."

"But she's not," The formal gem shouted out with waterworks. "She's still out there! Probably drifting through space! All because of me!"

"It's not your fault, Pearl. She was just angry about Steven being alone in space."

"No!... Did you hear her? It went deeper then just being upset about Steven... Way deeper. I can't believe she felt that way."

"I don't know what happened, but we have to find Bismuth," The human told his friends out loud. "What if she's in trouble?"

"Steven's right," The fusion agreed before heading to the controls of the ship. "We can't sit here and whine about it. Get in positions now." With her command, the gems each got into a chair to get ready for the search. But before Amethyst could do so, she realized that something else was amiss. Soon, she had to ask her human friend with concern again.

"Where's Jasper? Is she out there too?"

The brown haired boy stared at her with orbs of sadness before showing her a orange gem. The sight caused the purple gem to gasp before taking it into her hands. As she caressed the gem, she asked quietly with a hint of anger, "Who did this?"

"... Eyeball... She wanted to kill me, but she fought Jasper because she protected me. Only for her to stab her in the back. Literally."

The short crystal gem wanted to attack the ruby behind the boy. She wanted to clobber her outside of the ship and make her gem float in space for eternity. But when she saw her curled up in a ball in a corner, she realized that she wasn't worth her time. Right now, Bismuth was. So with a single tear escaping her eye, she gave Jasper her back to Steven, and went back to business.

With the orange gem back in his hands, the brown haired boy used the last amount of strength he had for the moment to bubble it. Afterwards, he turned to find a silent Eyeball sitting by herself in the back of the ship. The boy approached the gem to comfort her, only for the red gem to yell for him to stay back. He was scared at first. That was until he heard sniffles and saw her body shook slightly.

She was crying. He didn't see it, but he knew it. And while she cried, she asked through sniffs, "Why do you get to be loved by them? You don't deserve it. You don't deserve any of this- I want to just shatter you!... But I can't. Jasper told me not to... I miss her so much. I miss her and my team so much. My... They were my best friends. And now their gone because of you! So why do you get to be loved when I don't?!... It doesn't matter anymore, does it?... I'm all alone. So leave me alone..."

Steven wanted to help her. But he couldn't it was too late. A happy reunion turned bad. But hopefully, as he waited for the arrival of his friend,

It would turn better again...

* * *

 

In the dept of space, the planets still found themselves in orbit as stars surrounded their every move. The balls of light were also accompanied by asteroids that flew peacefully through the nothingness. The occasionally bright colors gave the darkness a glow that was comforting to any life form. Any life form, except for a certain one. One that was floating around the area in zero gravity. Actually, swimming around.

And that someone was none other then Bismuth, diving through the nothingness in search for her friend. She wondered around space like a fish out of water as she thought quietly to herself about the crystal gems. She tried to forget about everything that happened. But even if she did, she could still recall the moment.

In her words, she couldn't keep her big mouth shut about Rose again. And just like always, Pearl and the gems got upset about it. But this time, she didn't just get a scolding from the pale gem. She also got a slap... She never thought Pearl would raise her hand to her like that. Just for talking about their old leader...

She still wanted to know why. Why would they treat her normally when she turned their life into a living hell? It confused her. It actually made her want to cry even more from a fact. The fact that she would never be loved like her. Not by the crystal gems. Not by Pearl. And not by Steven...

But it didn't matter. Even if he was Rose's son, he was still just a little boy. He should have a long and happy life waiting for him. Get a real fusion partner that will love him, become stronger, and save the world. And she should be there to see it, right?... No, she thought. Now she sounded like she was his mother instead. But she knew it was Rose...

But enough thinking about Rose. She had to find the human fast. The periwinkle gem started to swim and dive around the empty space in search for her friend. She looked up, down, left and right. But there was no human in sight. Only huge rock objects and planets that stood out like a sore thumb. The search started to become impossible as if she was finding a needle in a haystack.

She started to get frustrated with her slow mission for a second. That was until she thought of the perfect idea. What if she just used the asteroids to move faster? With the speed, the search would go quickly. And the quicker she finds the human, the better. So the old new gem swam her body to one of the dangerous rock objects, pushing herself off of them when she had to.

And with the impact, she dashed through the darkness like a rocket, passing all of the asteroids in one go. The boost made her calm down for a while as she thought things would get better. But once again, she had to remember that not everything is sunshine rainbows. Instead of having a easy method, she was slammed into someone out of nowhere. And it was someone who caused all of this to happen in the first place.

It was a ruby.

With her presence and the sudden stop she delivered to the old gem, Bismuth couldn't help but be engulfed in rage. As she stared at the surprised gem in front of her, she shouted out loud, "It's you!"

"It's me," The young red gem repeated happily to the older one's surprise. This caught Bismuth off guard, but not for long when she jumped off a asteroid and slammed the defenseless gem to another one. With the attack, the ruby found herself scared of what could happen next. She screamed out in fear as she begged for the periwinkle gem to not hurt her. But even her begs weren't enough to stop the angered gem.

"Where's Steven?! If you don't tell me, I swear I will shatter you right now! Tell me!"

"I-I don't know where he is, p-please don't hurt me," The young gem plead as loud as she could. "I-I don't know where Steven is, I swear! I don't want to be shattered!" The old new gem didn't buy anything she said. That was until she saw the young one do something she didn't expect. She started to cry in fright while holding her hands up.

The action made the gem stare in that moment with eyes filled of shock. She had then realized what she had just done. What she was about to do. She almost took a gem's life. Almost did the one thing she promised not to do to Steven. And that was shatter someone... She either thought she was truly losing it. Or she was just another sick gem...

Either way, she loosened her grip on the ruby in front of her, making her crying fade away. With that, the periwinkle gem then scanned the red gem in silence. And when she did, she realized why the gem didn't fight back. Her gem wasn't on her eye like the other ruby. But instead was in place of where her navel would be. It was the wrong red gem. This alone made Bismuth even more upset about the action she made before she apologized in a soft tone.

"S-Sorry about that. I thought you was that ruby with the gem on her eye."

"Y-You mean Eyeball," The ruby responded in a questionable manner. "I don't know where she is right now. I'm trying to find her though. Are you?"

"Yeah. She's the one that made Steven get into this mess. Along with your group... Do you know where your group is?"

"No. I'm trying to find them as well. Oh man, I hope their okay! If they are shattered, then I'll be alone and yellow diamond would be really upset."

A part of Bismuth wanted to leave the red gem on her way as she continued her search. But another part of her wanted to help find the other rubies. Why should she help, she asked mentally. All they ever did was cause problems for her and the crystal gems... Then again, they were just like her. Gems trying to survive this mess up war. Steven wouldn't want the gem to be in trouble. And to be honest, neither did she.

So the older gem looked deep into the other's terrified eyes to ask calmly, "You wanna help me find your group?"

"Wait. You'd really help me find them? After we tried to shatter you?"

"... Yeah," The periwinkle gem responded after a awkward pause. "I don't know how that works, but yes. I would. As long as you help me find Steven too."

"O-Okay! It's a deal!"

"A deal it is." With that being said, the two gems shook on it, causing their bodies to spin around in circles. It was a mistake to do, but it didn't matter. Bismuth had someone to make her mission even easier now. Not to mention it was rather easy to get the helper she needed. Too easy.

With the ruby now by her side, the old new gem pulled the young one towards her to sling her on her back. The two of them then started to continue their search for their friends through space. The planets around them and the bright lights served as things to smooth both gems at the moment. It caused the young one to almost drift off until the older gem blurted out while swimming and jumping off asteroids.

"So, what should I call you? Ruby 1 or what?"

"Um. The human? Steven? He called me Navy for some odd reason," The red gem stated in a shy tone, making the periwinkle gem nod in understanding.

"Right! Because your gem is on your navel. If he calls you navy, then what are the other gems names?"

"There's Army, Leggy, Eyeball, and Doc if I recall."

"Huh... I guess I'm trying to find Eyeball then. She's got to be the one gem that's where Steven is."

"Um, miss Bismuth? Why do you want to find the human Steven so badly?"

"Um, he's kind of like someone I'm supposed to look out for at all times," Bismuth answered as clearly as she could. "If he's trouble, I have to go back to him and save him... Don't you and the other rubies do that?"

"... I try to," Navy replied sadly as she laid her head on the older gem's back softly. "When the others are in a pickle, I try to get them out of it. But they never want my help. I think It's because they think I'm too young. I am one of the youngest after all, Leggy being the newbie. Still... I'm capable of helping gems. Like you, right?"

With every word given by the red gem, the periwinkle one couldn't help but be reminded of someone. Maybe it was a part of herself. Innocence. She used to have that back when Rose was alive. She would just be naive, full of energy and try to help her friends no matter what, even if they pushed her away. As she listened to the young one, she couldn't help but tell herself she would shatter just to have that back. But she never will... It doesn't matter though. She didn't know why, but as long as the young one had it, she would be okay.

"Yeah... You're helping plenty, Navy."

"Thank you... I'm so worried about them."

"Me too..." The two gems kept drifting through the nothingness in a hush. That was until they were met with another figure in the distance. The sudden shade of red caused the two of them to check out who it was. And of course, they found another ruby. This time, the ruby's gem was located on it's leg. That only meant one thing. This ruby was Leggy.

With the two traveling gems, Navy yelled out in excitement and relief, "Leggy!"

"Ruby," Leggy responded happily as she spun in zero gravity. She was filled with so much joy, until she saw the person who accompanied her teammate. Bismuth. With one of the crystal gems with the fellow ruby, the other red gem squealed in fright, trying to move away from them. Sadly, this proved to have been a failure when the old new gem caught up to her to grab the gem.

With herself now caught in Bismuth's grasp, Leggy started to yell out loud, "Navy, help! I've been caught by a crystal gem! Help"

"Calm down," Navy commanded. "This gem is not going to hurt you. She's friendly and also wants to find the other rubies as well!"

"Yeah," The periwinkle gem agreed. "If I wanted to shatter you, Navy wouldn't even be here. And you wouldn't be alive."

"Wait, so you came to save me," the ruby with the gem on her leg asked in confusion.

"Yeah. I saved Navy after all. You think I won't help you?"

"I don't. Know?" The answer given caused Bismuth to roll her eyes before throwing Leggy on her back suddenly. Due to this, the still confused ruby held on tight to the older gem, making her laugh a little. With the new addition to the search group, the old new gem continued to swim and jump her away around space. While she did so, the old gem asked casually to the younger gem,

"Navy told me your new to the rubies crew. You like it so far? How does it feel being with them?"

"Um. They kind of scare me," Leggy admitted. "I mean, Navy is cool to hang out with. But everyone else creep me out sometimes. They kind of make me not want to talk to them sometimes. But even with fear of being exiled from their friendship, I still see them like good comrades. It's weird, actually."

Bismuth could already tell what Leggy was out of the rubies. She was fear. The young one wanted to say things, but was always scared to, even if she saw the rubies as friends. The older gem felt the same way with the crystal gems. She always wanted to tell them things, but never knew how to. Still, even if she would be scared of them sometimes, she still loved them like friends. She hoped Leggy kept that connection with her team as well.

"Well, when we see the other rubies, you should say what's on your mind."

"You think?"

"Yeah. It's for the best."

"... I guess I'll try..."

The three gems soon came across two more rubies. And it was a ruby with it's gem on it's arm while the other on it's chest. It had to be Army and Doc. The two looked like they were arguing from afar before Bismuth along with Leggy and Navy approached them. With the search group now in plain sight, Doc couldn't help but yell in relief, "Rubies! You're okay!"

"Yeah," Army agreed in the same tone. That was until she realized who the rubies tagged along with. A crystal gem. The enemy. And Army knew what she would always do to enemy gems. Fight them. So the fellow ruby shouted a battle cry before trying to attack the periwinkle gem in zero gravity. This proved to be pointless as the gem only made herself tired. She could've continued if Doc didn't stop her.

After making the action, the leader ruby asked her fellow rubies, "What are you two doing with this Bismuth, soldiers?"

"We were trying to look for you," Navy answered in a childish tone.

"Yep," Leggy agreed happily. "And this Bismuth was being nice by trying to help us find you."

"That's stupid," Army denied. "A crystal gem would never help a ruby. Their the enemy."

"I'm not your enemy," Bismuth replied as calm as she could. "I'm a gem just like you trying to find my friend and go back home."

"You shut your pinhole, you Bismuth! You're the reason we're in this to begin with!"

"Me?! I didn't do anything!"

"You did! You made our group scatter!"

"I got them back, did I?"

"No! You used them. And I don't even see Ruby with you, so what makes you think I'm going to trust you? For all we know, you might've shattered her!" The statement made the older gem look in fright. What if it was true? What if Steven and Eyeball was already shattered? What if she was too late? The thought alone made her freeze in place as the angered ruby was stopped by her leader, who said,

"Now is not the time! We have to go back to Homeworld!"

"That's just great, Ruby. And leave Ruby behind to fend for herself?! I thought you said we don't leave rubies behind!"

"We don't! But we have no choice now. We have to tell yellow diamond about the mission's failure."

"We're not leaving without Eyeball," Navy interrupted out loud suddenly, getting both rubies attention. "I, Ruby or Navy, had promised to help find Eyeball, you all and the human Steven with Bismuth. And I'm not going to break that promise! We're going to find Eyeball and Steven and bring them back home, right miss Bismuth?"

The call out to the older gem surprised her. She never thought one of the rubies would say something to her like that. To be honest, she thought the rubies were full of it. But with the words delivered to her by Navy, she could tell. They were more then just rubies. They were their own gems. Their own group.

Their own family. Just like them.

Even if they had problems, she could tell they could never leave the other. They would feel incomplete. Empty. Lost. Just like how the crystal gems did without Steven. They were each other's beacon of hope. Without the other, they were nothing. Without Steven, Bismuth was nothing... She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't just give up that easily. The boy needed her. And because of that, she was going to give him what he needed. Because with her innocence. Fear. Anger. And Understanding. She would do anything but give up. Especially for her little meatball.

"That's right," The old new gem replied with a determined smirk. "You better listen up, you little soldiers! We're going to find Eyeball and Steven! And when we do, we're going to shower them with affection and love! Even if we get shattered while doing so, we will! Bring! Them! Back! Home! Now who's with me?!"

"We are," Navy and Leggy responded out loud in agreement. Right after, Army stared at Bismuth for a moment before replying with a small grin,

"You might be full of it... But I can tell you can be of help. I'm in!" Finally, Doc stared for a second or two until she sighed in defeat as she answered back to the periwinkle gem,

"Even if you're the enemy, I think we can trust you, so I'll tag along."

"I don't want to be your enemy, Doc," Bismuth responded quietly. "I want to be your ally..."

"Then prove it when we find Ruby."

"Alright then! Let's continue with our search!"

"YEAH," The happy scene for the gems soon turned chaotic when rock like objects dashed pass them at a high speed. The impact given off by it was enough to make the group of gems stop what they were doing immediately. And when they did, they all found what was coming towards them and what that object was. It was a meteoroid, courtesy of a meteor shower. With their presence, the gems started to panic.

They all didn't know what to do about the matter but try and take cover. They would do so if Bismuth wasn't there. So instead the older gem decided to cover the rubies on her back as she started to swim through space at full speed from jumping over meteors. The action worked for a while until the meteors got even bigger and bigger, proving to be a issue for the old new gem.

But even with the pressure, Bismuth found herself trying hard to protect the young scared gems. This worked. Until a meteor came her way. She tried to jump this one, and it was successful. But sadly, she was met with another one suddenly that clashed into her harshly. The impact was enough to send her floating back as a crack grew on her gem. This caused the periwinkle gem to be unconscious to the rubies surprise.

This could've stopped the young ones from trying to survive. But instead, they didn't quit on the older gem. She was the one who got them here, so she had to be the one who was guaranteed of living. So without hesitation, the rubies assembled to fuse into a bigger Ruby. In their new given form, the rubies started to punch through meteors while holding Bismuth tightly to them. With all their hard work, they found themselves surviving the meteor shower luckily. And after a few moments, the rock objects ceased to exist...

After they escaped, the rubies gathered around Bismuth, holding onto her so they could stay together. As they watched in horror as their helper, Leggy couldn't help but ask her team, "W-What do we do?! Her gem is cracked!"

"I don't know," Doc answered back. "I've never dealt with a cracked gem before."

"We can't just leave her."

"Of course we're not going to leave her," Army shouted out. "She is the one who's going to take us to Ruby after all!"

"But she's cracked!... And we're in the middle of the solar system. Alone... G-Guys? Are we gonna be shattered?" As a tear dared to roll down Navy's face, Army immediately responded in complete rage,

"Of course not! W-We'll survive! We'll find Ruby and Steven and go back to Homeworld. Then we'll be praised and-. And yellow diamond will be happy. And... And... We'll. Be okay... We have to be okay. I-... I don't want to be shattered!" With a cry, the rubies suddenly started to make waterworks as they were faced with the sad truth. While they did so, each of the rubies started to beg for mercy on their souls as they called out to Bismuth at the same time.

"I wanna go home!"

"Please wake up!"

"I don't wanna be shattered!"

"Please, miss Bismuth!"

The periwinkle gem almost started to gain consciousness for a second after hearing their cries. But all she could do was just watch them. She wanted to tell them that everything would be okay. That they would survive this. Because she wouldn't. No. She didn't want them to die. But sadly, she didn't have the strength to. All she could do was look and listen as she tried to hold on to dear life.

As the young ones continued to cry, Leggy interrupted to stutter, "G-Guys. I have s-something to tell you..."

"What is it, Ruby," Doc asked through sniffles.

"I... No matter how much we got into arguments and messed up on missions. Even in the end, I... I love you guys!"

"W-We love you too, Ruby!"

While the rubies cried their life away, a tired Bismuth was just about to give up sadly. She thought that this was it. Her mission along with the rubies was a failure. And they would all be shattered eventually by the dangers of space. That's what she thought...

Before a light shined upon them, surprising the rubies as they stopped crying. With the sudden light, the gems were dragged towards it like a magnet in just seconds. And before the periwinkle could pass out, she was blinded by the light that abducted her. The question was.

Who controlled that light?...

This question was answered when the older gem suddenly felt like she was being strong again. Maybe even stronger. This was also accompanied by a wet feeling on her chest. The feeling of only one thing. Steven's saliva. The periwinkle gem opened her eyes to find the brown haired boy above her, crying hard at the fact that his friend was hurt. He was right in front of her. He was healing her.

He was okay...

The presence of the boy alone made the old new gem instantly get up to hug him. In the embrace, the periwinkle just had to create waterworks. And the works also caused Steven to do so himself. As they told each other how worried they were of the other, the old gem examined the scene behind the boy closely.

The rubies were all together again, still alive. And Eyeball was with them, all gathered in one group hug, The scene made the periwinkle happy that she was able to protect someone for once. And it only made her happier when Navy and Leggy waved at them thankfully, causing her to do the same.

On the other hand, the crystal gems all looked at her with relief. Garnet sighed contently with a warm smile. Amethyst grinned with happiness. And Pearl just looked down at the floor in sadness. Bismuth wanted to go to them and tell them sorry, but she had to comfort Steven now. While she did so, the brown haired boy told her through tears,

"Jasper's in her gem form. I-I tried to help her. Help everyone! But I failed! I'm sorry! I just wanted to be like my mom. I didn't want to hurt anyone!"

"Shhh. Don't say that, Steven... You helped plenty. And don't worry, I bet Jasper's okay. She can't be taken down that easily, I know it. She's just taking a break. Also. Remember what I told you. You're better then your mom. You're you... And as long as your safe? Everything's okay... Because I'm here. And you're here..."

"T-Thank you, Bismuth!"

"No. Thank you." With that, the two of them continued to hug happily. After the given closure, the periwinkle gem took a look at Jasper's gem. It seemed to have been in good shape. So of course she should be okay. She then approached the rubies to see that they were okay and happy about surviving. Everything was okay now. Almost that is.

Bismuth soon approached the crystal gems slowly to find them stare at her with concern. They all stood in awkward silence until the older gem blurted out, "Look... I'm sorry... But I can't take all those things back. It's how I view Rose. I know you guys love her. I might not... But it doesn't matter now... Because we all know one things for sure... We love Steven dearly. And we would do anything for him... I told Lapis once that she needed to move forward... We should too..."

Instead of saying anything, Pearl dashed into Bismuth's arms, holding her in a tight hug. The hug was immediately given back by the old new gem. And soon the two other gems joined in the hug. The closure went on for a while as they all started to tear up a little just by holding each other. But it was okay. The rubies were in good shape. Jasper would be okay. Steven was okay. And their friendship was still growing strong... Nothing was going to break them up. Not now and not ever... But now that they got together, one question buzzed into their mind.

What are they going to do with the rubies when they get back to Earth?

Bismuth already knew.

_They were going to recruit them..._

**Oh man! I am so sorry about the long chapter! I've just been so sucked into this chapter, I didn't know it would be this long! But hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter. And also, I hope other chapters aren't as long as this. But only time will tell. Until the next chapter, have a good day! :)**


	13. Back to Earth

The gems soon arrived back on Earth in night, at the barn, after a long flight . As they landed on the floor of the planet, Lapis and Peridot's attention went from their program and to the spacecraft. With the ship now in sight, the blue gem and green gem couldn't help but jump off the truck embedded into the barn and down to the ground. As they stepped on the soil, slowly approaching the ship, the craft's exit opened for smoke to escape softly, devolving in the air as it did.

The action caught the two gems off guard for a second. Until out from the smoke, came a gem that they didn't expect to see. A ruby. With just the sight of the small red gem, their minds wondered with worry questions. Did the crystal gems lose? Was Steven okay? Did everything go out the way it was supposed to?

This was answered verbally when the young ruby stared at them for a second before looking back inside her ship to ask out loud. "Are they good?"

"Yes, Army," A young male voice replied normally, already giving the two gems a hint as to who it was. "Their good." With that being said, the small gem exit from the ship normally with her team of rubies following behind in a line. After the small gems were done getting out, out came the crystal gems with Jasper's gem in Amethyst's hands. Right behind them came out Steven, who unlike the gems, walked out in excitement to dash straight to his other friends. When he finally came face to face with the two gems, he greeted happily,

"Hey Lapis. Hey Peridot."

"Steven," Peridot greeted back in a strict tone with a small grin. "How was your trip through space?"

"It was scary at first. But then it got fun with the gems. Along with Bismuth and the rubies too."

"Why are the rubies with you, Steven," Lapis asked with a hint of worry in her voice as her brows narrowed carefully. "Are they here to cause trouble?"

"Oh no," The brown haired boy answered quickly. "Not at all! They're actually friendly. They helped Bismuth get back to us and let us use their ship. If anything, I think their my new friends now."

"That's nice and all, Steven. But can we even trust them? They did try to cause us problems. Not to mention, get on my nerves."

"Trust me, Lapis. Their really nice and can be a big help. You just have to give them a chance."

"... I'll try," The blue gem told the young boy to his liking. She wanted to continue talking to him, but not long after their talk, he was called by Bismuth to come towards her for a second. With the call, Steven left Lapis alone once again with Peridot. But this time, she wasn't worried like earlier. But she was angry. She didn't know why, but there was still something she didn't like about the periwinkle gem. Something that made her upset. As she smiled at the little boy, the thought of hurting her came back into her mind in just seconds.

That was until the green gem next to her called out her name quietly, getting her out of her thoughts. As she came back to reality, the smaller gem asked with confusion, "Where's Jasper?" The question made the blue gem immediately examine the scene around her. Through the crystal gems and the rubies having conversations among themselves, she couldn't find Jasper.

Unlike the presence of Bismuth, the absence of the orange gem made her confused as well. Actually, concerned a little. Where was the gem? Did she get shattered? Hurt? Was she still in space? The questions that floated through her head was enough to make her become a little paranoid for the moment. Why did she even care about Jasper's health, she asked herself. If anything, she should be happy she was gone. But she wasn't. Her heart started to pound in her chest rapidly. Sweat almost rolled down her head. And her orbs started to shake through wide eyes for Peridot to see.

Where was Jasper?

The answer was given when a light shined out of nowhere from behind a tree. With the bright orange glow, the two gems were met once again with Bismuth and Steven walking from behind the tree with a smile before they winked at one another playfully. It was in that moment that Lapis knew they were up to something. Either something good or sinister.

And this was good when Amethyst walked from the tree as well. But not alone. As she approached them, she was holding the hand of a certain gem. A gem that was walking tiredly with her hand on her forehead as she grunted.

And that was Jasper of course.

Her appearance had healed the blue gems heart suddenly. Her sweat was put to a halt and her eyes stopped shaking slowly. For some odd reason, it was like seeing Jasper once again saved her. When she looked at her crooked smile, she couldn't help but smile. Her face. Her smile... Her body... It sent off mix signals to the blue gem. With every second she kept her eyes on her, she just wanted to pounce on her and take it for herself...

But this stayed a thought when something ruined her scenery of the 'beautiful' gem. And that was the small rubies dashing towards her happily. With their approach, they were able to jump onto the orange gem and send her falling down the to floor. Usually, Jasper would be upset about being attacked out of nowhere. But for the first time, Lapis could see that anger didn't consume her. But happiness instead. She watched as the orange gem laughed out loud as the red gems apologized and showered her with friendly affection.

She could hear their conversation carefully as she stared in silence. The young red gems praised Bismuth for saving her as they hugged Jasper tightly. And all she did was call them runts, but accepted their apologizes like it was nothing. The more she looked at the scene, the more she started to feel her heart beat rapidly in her chest once again as her blood started to stir.

It almost got worse until Peridot called out to her once again to ask with worry, "Are you okay?"

"Huh?... N-No. I'm fine..."

"It looks like you were upset about the rubies getting along with Jasper-."

"I'll grow out of it..."

"... You know, Lapis. One of these days? You're gonna have to give up that stupid vendetta of yours." With that sentence, Peridot soon walked away from the blue gem and towards Jasper as Amethyst left the scene with laughter. As she talked to the orange gem and made her feel embarrassed, she couldn't help but replay what Peridot said in her mind like a broken record.

Give up her stupid vendetta? Who did she think she was? She hated Bismuth and felt a type of way towards Jasper for a reason. They all made her life a living hell. It wasn't just a vendetta. It was real hatred. And it will stay that way until she had a reason to like them both again. She hated to say it, but even though she promised Steven she would make friends? She started to realize she was lying.

Because she never wanted to friends with them.

Not now and not ever...

* * *

 

As the night passed, the gems continued to talk among themselves and celebrate the arrival of their new comrades. They all danced to the music Peridot played on her tv and talked in groups about their life so far. As they did, Lapis stayed in the barn by herself, staring at the group of gems from a far. It was fitting, but not as fun as talking and dancing like the others.

Bismuth talked peacefully with Garnet next to a tree afar. Pearl and Amethyst danced happily with Steven as he busted some moves. And Jasper hanged out with the rubies out loud as they showed off their awesomeness to her. As they did so, the orange gem couldn't help but laugh triumphantly before saying she was satisfied.

To see Jasper actually happy made Steven, Bismuth and Amethyst truly happy. It felt like only a while ago, she was filled with so much sadness. Pain. Confusion. And now with the small red gems by her side like one big happy family? They had nothing to worry about. As long as the orange gem was pleased with their presence, everything was okay...

Almost everything...

* * *

 

After a few hours of fun, the gems and Steven found themselves pass out from exhaustion in the barn. The area was engulfed in a hush as their snores quietly filled the air around them. Everyone either drifted into dreamland or slept peacefully in silence. At least mostly everyone did. Except for Pearl.

The pale gem couldn't help but stay up, thinking about what she had done up in space. With the memory slowly reforming in her head, she stared daggers at her right hand. It was dirty from slamming into the flesh of a face. She could remember Bismuth yelling at her and her friends about the past. About the war, About Rose... And for once, she couldn't take it.

It still confused her that she would go and slap her like that. From what she knows, she was always able to contain herself from physical action when Rose was brought up. Yes, she would get upset and fuss about her leader being looked upon as a villain. But she never hit anyone for that matter. So why did she hit Bismuth? She did the same thing that everyone else would do. Criticize her loved one. So what made her so different that she had to slap her?

As she tried to find the answer to that question in her state of mind, she started to recall her last words. The confession of her love. Who would've known that Bismuth, the hard hitting and lover of fighting. Was in love with a delicate and cautious Pearl such as herself? She couldn't lie to herself, she had a feeling the old new gem had feelings for her. But maybe she didn't want to believe. Or not even be true.

But it was. With her sad tone and tears, the truth was revealed. And in that moment when the old gem exit the ship into space, she was filled with worry. Not for the answer as to if she loved her back. But to if she was coming back or not. As she waited for the diamonds know how long, her worry started to turn into paranoia. And that paranoia turned into utter fear. Hopefully, she made it back alive with the rest of the rubies. But even with her return, they stayed silent. As if nothing ever happened.

But something did happen, their friendship could be broken for all they know. What if they never talk to each other again? What if they weren't friends anymore? Something about that made the pale gem sort of upset. Or should she say really. And with the anger and a grunt, she had no choice but to walk out of the barn and get some fresh air. So she sneaked pass the resting gems and outside to meet with the night sky.

Pearl's blue eyes met with the midnight sky of Earth to find beautifully lit stars above her. Some were either lights of planes or lights of space. But it didn't matter, it still looked magical. The balls of light were also accompanied by a waxing crescent that lit brighter then all of them. The scene really caught her eye and helped her to calm her down. With a soft sigh, the pale gem was able to calm herself down...

That was until the one gem she didn't want to see at the moment approached her from behind to whisper, "Can't sleep?" With the sudden blurt out of words, Pearl jumped in place to turn and see who it was. And it was none other then Bismuth, staring at her with her signature smirk as she chuckled softly. Her presence was enough to make her friend sigh once again with relief before scolding her softly, "Don't sneak up on me like that. What if I had use my spear on you?"

"Then I would just grab it and throw you down with it," The periwinkle gem questioned childishly, not wiping off the smirk on her face. Usually when she joked around like that, the other gem would laugh or playfully slap her arm. But instead, this time, she just growled gently before sighing once again.

In only a few seconds, Bismuth had noticed that Pearl's been sighing a lot then normal. Not only that, but she had notice that the pale gem had look tired for some reason. Maybe it was because of the mission or because of the partying. But she needed to know either way. She didn't like Pearl in a state like this at all. So she asked as her smile slowly turned upside down, "What's wrong? You look stressed out?"

"I'm... I'm fine."

"That's a lie," The periwinkle gem said with a more stern tone this time. "You upset?"

"You know what? Yeah... Maybe I am."

"How come-."

"Because of the way you're acting! How can you be so happy and positive after what happened on that ship?! I slapped you! Yeah, you were talking about Rose- You were in the wrong. But so was I for hitting you! That was your opinion and I should've let you say it! But I slapped you," Pearl exploded, making Bismuth surprised for a moment. But what really shocked her was that out of nowhere, the older gem saw something that triggered her in seconds.

And that was none other then the tears of her friends.

The pale gem was standing there, crying in front of her like a baby as hard as she could. The waterworks given broke the old new gem's heart. With every drop that hit the floor, her soul started to break into small pieces sadly. She never wanted to make her friends feel this sorry about something especially Pearl. She wanted her to stop. But she couldn't. All she could do was watch as the younger gem blurted out through tears,

"I hurt you... All because you said something about Rose I didn't like... But you're still happy and treating me like a friend... Why? I don't deserve your kindness. I don't deserve your title as your friend. Nor do I deserve your love... I failed you..."

"Don't," The periwinkle gem responded out of nowhere, making her friend stop suddenly. She was confused at first until her confusion turned into total shock when she felt a warm touch on her shoulder. The touch of the old new gem. And with that hand on her, the pale gem found herself looking up at her friend to find waterworks. The same ones as her's. In that moment, she realized that Bismuth wasn't happy.

Actually, she was in the same pain like her.

And with that pain, Bismuth couldn't help but blurt out through tears, "D-Don't say that. And don't blame yourself for anything... If you want to blame yourself for anything, blame yourself for making me cry. Making us cry. I hate crying!... But seriously, Pearl. You didn't do anything wrong. You stood up for what you believed in. Just like I did. And I respect that even if it didn't work out right. At least we're still friends. And it will stay that way no matter what... Don't forget what I promised. I will never leave you, okay? Not now. Not ever..."

Bismuth was right. And Pearl knew it too. With those words, it started to feel like that day back at the temple. Where they promised one another to be friends. And always be there for the other no matter what. And knowing that the old new gem was a gem of her word, she would keep that to heart. Even if times are rough. Soon, the pale gem was able to cease her crying before saying with a soft chuckle, "We're bad for crying."

"The worst," Her friend agreed before she decided to clean the other's face with her thumb. After capturing the tears in her hand, Pearl instantly held her in a hug. This hug was given back not long afterwards by the receiver. The closure went on in silence as crickets chirped occasionally. It felt nice just to be in each other's touch like that. Just in a peaceful manner. And it would've been longer if the younger gem didn't question quietly in her friend's ear,

"You said you wanted to fuse with me, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Why you bring that up?"

"Because I already made one of your wishes a reality... Might as well make the other one too... Bismuth. Let's fuse."

The command was enough to make the periwinkle gem push her friend lightly from her body. With the action, she made their eyes connect once more to see the determination in her blue eyes. Pearl was being very serious about the matter. But Bismuth? She was shocked out of her mind. And the younger gem could tell from her black orbs. But it didn't matter whether or not she was scared. Because the older gem could tell the other wanted this. She wanted it.

They wanted it.

So without hesitation, the old new gem nodded lightly in agreement before they broke their hug. With the closure lost, the two of them traveled further into the plains to a more open spot. When they arrived at that spot, the two gems started to get ready for their session. As they did, Pearl blurted out once more with a cautious tone in her voice.

"Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," The older gem replied back with a crooked smile before admitting sadly. "I don't think this will work. What if we fuse into a weak gem? Or we mess up big time? I don't think fusing with a Bismuth is the best idea."

"I'm not fusing with a Bismuth though. I'm fusing with my Bismuth... And I can already tell from that fact, we'll be stronger together."

With those words given, the older gem could already feel her confidence grow dramatically. Beads of sweat that erupted on her head devolved suddenly. Her crooked smile became a real one. And her heart started to beat normally for once. With those side effects now in motion, the two were really ready to fusion.

"Synchronizing... Now." Pearl started to sway to the older gem lovingly, causing warmth to erupt in her cheeks. In that moment, the periwinkle gem started to become nervous once again from the movement given. But not for long when she started to realize that she's seen many fusions back at the beginning of the war. With her studying all their movements, she might be able to fuse with her partner. Hopefully.

Bismuth soon found herself approaching the pale gem to grab her hands and start to waltz with her. After a few steps, the old new gem spun her partner around her arm before pulling her close. The action impressed the younger gem for a moment until something else found her sanctification. And that was the eye contact given to her as the older gem twirled her away only to lift her up towards her. The dance was becoming better and better. They actually wanted it to last forever.

But it all lead to this moment. The last move. Bismuth pulled Pearl back to the ground while also holding her close. And before they knew it, their lips met in a loving kiss. A kiss that caused them to be engulfed in a bright light.

With this, the dance was over...

* * *

 

"Did. It work... I look and feel different. Is that good?... Pearl?

Oh my... Bismuth... I-It worked. We've fused.

My diamonds...

This is... Wow... W-We shouldn't tell the others. At least until I see this Smokey Quartz Steven was telling me about.

Yeah, sure... And Pearl?

Yes?

_... Thank you..."_


	14. Small Tour de Beach

The next day, the crystal gems thought it would be best if the rubies stayed at the barn. At least until they find a better place for them. Of course, Jasper decided to stay there as well to keep a eye on the small gems with Peridot and Lapis. Luckily, those two found themselves trying to get used to the idea. With that being worked out, the other gems made their way back to the temple. Back to Beach City.

When they arrived back home from the warp pad, Steven instantly ran around his home happily. As he did, he praised how lucky he was to be back, kissing the floor and walls around him without a care in the world. The action made the gems laugh gladly before they all went to do what they want to show their gratitude for being back home.

Garnet immediately went to her room in silence, away from the others. Amethyst made her way to the couch, where she slammed her body on the furniture to relax. And Pearl smiled at Bismuth one more time before leaving to her room as well. With all the gems finding something to occupy their time, the periwinkle gem was left alone to choose her poison. Sadly, she didn't know what poison to pick.

She could always do the sleeping ritual, she thought to herself. Then again, she would snore out loud and annoy her friends. She could make pizza. That was fun to her. But maybe making food right now wasn't the best time. Her mind started to swim in a river of confusion. Every suggestion she gave herself didn't work. It only made matters worse for her. She wondered how the gems could do a ritual so easily but she couldn't. Was she not capable of doing such human things? Or was she just boring?...

Yeah, she thought. It had to be the second one. With that in mind, the old new gem couldn't help but sigh hopelessly as she stared at the ground. The action quickly caught Steven's attention, making him look at his friend with worried eyes. Was she still sad about what happened in space, he asked himself. Did she need something to do? He didn't know, but her state got the best of him. And he really didn't like to see his friends in such a state of sadness.

So he approached the older gem to question her quietly, "Hey, Bismuth. Are you okay?" The question caught the periwinkle gem off guard for a second. But she luckily recovered from the surprise to answer back softly,

"Oh, no. Nothing's up... It's just... Um. I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean," Steven questioned once again, this time with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"Well, you and the gems have something to do. And you just do it in seconds without worry. Garnet and Pearl are doing whatever they do in their rooms, Amethyst is relaxing, I guess. And you're having fun with the temple. Me?... I'm just standing here like a lump on a log. With nothing to make me content like you... You have any suggestions on what I should do?"

The young boy got into a thinking state from the question given. What could make Bismuth happy for now?... He thought a tv show could. But she would just question everything about it. Then again there's lion. It's fun to see in his mane! But that was where she was kept bubbled, so that's a no... What could work, he asked himself one last time. He truly didn't know what would satisfy the older gem. She's done everything in the temple that he could thing of... Then again... She hasn't seen everything...

With the best idea in mind, the human's eyes lit up like a light bulb as he yelled out in excitement to the older gem's shock. "I got it! You've never seen Beach City have you?!"

"Beach city? What's that?"

"Um... It's the city we live nearby?... Oh I forgot! You never left the temple," Steven blurted out with a slap to his head. "So you've never seen Beach City at all!"

"I've left the temple," Bismuth corrected with a matter of fact tone. "We went to the barn, remember? And I've trained with Amethyst in the training grounds. Not to mention, I look at the sea from your balcony some nights."

"But you never went pass the balcony, have you?"

"Well... I... No..."

"See?! So, you have never went to Beach City yet. It doesn't matter though. Because today is your lucky day. I'm taking you on a tour through Beach City!" The plan surprisingly made the periwinkle gem break a smile on her face that made Steven happy already. He expected for her to find it as relaxing or a great way to get her mind of things. But when he heard what she thought his home outside of the temple was? He started to get a little worried.

"Cool! So is Beach City like a arena where I can beat people up? Or is it like a colony where we can get upgrades? Either way, please tell me we'll be beating something up!"

"... Um, it's like a colony," The brown haired boy answered with a nervous laugh. "But no weapons. We should get going though. I want to have fun until night time since I have a curfew. And Bismuth?"

"Yeah?"

"... Please keep your love for fighting in control."

"Ugh, fine." With that, the both of them started to make their way out of the house. As they did, Steven told Amethyst to tell the others where he was going. The purple gem told him he would do so, but he didn't know whether or not she was telling the truth or not with the attitude given. But it didn't matter, he was going to have some fun with his best friend on her tour in Beach City.

The two walked down the beach peacefully as their attention was put on the scenery given. The ocean glistened in the shine of the sun as the sand accompanied it softly. It also left the two's marks on it as the sound of crunches was given. The look made the older gem become lost in the beauty for a while until her little meatball blurted out happily, "What are you excited to see in Beach City? And you can't say a huge beast you can fight."

"Darn... Um, maybe some friendly faces and new allies," She questioned more then answered.

"That's a good one. I know that everyone in Beach City are nice. Some can say it while others show it. Like Lars and Sadie."

"Who's that?"

"Their my best friends. They work at the big donut. Which is riiiiiiight here!" The young brown haired boy pointed to a building for the gem to see. And what she saw sort of surprised her. It was a small building with a blue and pink patterned roof, walls that were a muted violet-brown, and window canopies that were a deep pink and brown striped pattern printed with a "Big Donut" sign on the awning. Not to mention there was a huge donut standing tall before them. The reveal of Lar's and Sadie's workplace had Bismuth impressed enough to say,

"Man. They look like their ready for a real fight."

"Bismuth."

"Oh, right. Sorry... Should we go in?"

"We shall." With a small chuckle from his formal attitude, the human opened the door for his friend so they could head straight for the counter inside. When they did so, the periwinkle gem looked around the area in awe at the wide selection of the so called donuts. This only caught her eye for a while though, until she heard a lady like scream in front of her.

With the action, she immediately turned around to find a boy with curly, orange-brown hair styled into a sort of mohawk. He wore a violet T-shirt with a half-eaten donut design on over a pale cream long-sleeved shirt. He also seemed taller then Steven, which was bizarre to the old new gem at first, but she quickly got used to it. But she was easily offended when she saw the boy started to back away from her as far as he could.

Due to this, Bismuth instantly yelled in question, "What? Are we being under attack?! Or are you trying to say something, huh?!"

"No, Bismuth," Steven interrupted at the same volume. "This is Lars. He's the friend I was talking about!"

"... Oh. Then why is he looking at me like I'm some freak? You trying to imply anything, you punk?"

"Punk," Lars questioned in anger before he got into the gem's face. "Who you calling punk, you overgrown gecko?!"

"Who you calling a overgrown gecko, you piece of-."

"Lars," A female voice blurted out from the back of the area with a hint of annoyance as footsteps started to approach them. "Are you messing with customers, again?! You really need to stop-." The voice stopped when the owner was revealed to the group. It was a short and heavy set female with curly blonde hair, wearing the same clothes as the male, but with no shirt underneath the other. Her eyes connected with the gem as she expected for her to scream as well. But instead, to her surprise, the female human just asked casually,

"Steven, is this another one of your. 'friends'?"

"What's that supposed to mean? You make it sound like I'm a stereotype or something."

"Bismuth, please," Steven whispered to his friend before answering the other with a nervous chuckle. "Guys, this is Bismuth. She's a old new crystal gem. And I though it would be nice to show her around town. At least show her to the fun places of town."

"Nice to meet you then! I'm Sadie," Sadie greeted herself nicely to the old new gem. "And I'm sure you already met Lars."

"Yeah," Bismuth replied casually this time. "He seems pretty rude."

"You get used to that... Well, um. I hope you have fun around Beach City. Before you leave, you wanna try a donut? It's that thing you saw outside the store."

"Sure. I'll go take a bite of it right now-."

"No! Don't eat the one on display! Heh heh. I was talking about a smaller more tastier one." With that being said, the blonde haired female pulled out two glazed donuts for her customers. In just seconds, Steven ate it full. But Bismuth? She couldn't help but examine it in her hands. It was warm, which was a good sign. And it got all over her hands, which was another good sign. The more she stared at the treat, the more the workers started to get more creep out. "Um. Go ahead. It's not poisonous and it's on the house."

"It should be poisonous-."

"Shut up, Lars."

"Go ahead, Bismuth," Steven told his friend quietly with a sweet smile. Only with that, did the old new gem then try to eat the treat. So she threw it in the air, let it land in her mouth, and ate in in one bite. This surprised the humans for a second or two. But what really surprised them was that they had to kick Bismuth out. And not because she loved the donut. But she adored it. And with so much love for the treat, the periwinkle grabbed Sadie's face, pulled it close to her's and said something that Lar's wasn't fond of.

"I love you now."

As they continued to walk down the sidewalks of Beach City, Steven continued to think of where they could go next as Bismuth ranted about Lars. He couldn't take her to the other resturants in the city. He could only imagine her clobbering everyone like hamburger meat. She needed to go somewhere that was normal. Calming. And not a place where she can easily be kicked out of...

And that was It's a wash, owned by Mr. Universe himself, Greg.

With that in mind, the brown haired boy blurted out through the unknown words given by his friend. "Hey, Bismuth! I know just the place we can go to that'll clear your mind!"

"Really? And what's that?"

"It's a wash! It's where my dad works! You'll like him!"

"You mean Mr. Universe, right," Bismuth asked with a hint of disgust and a raised eyebrow that caught Steven's eye.

"Uh, yeah? Has the gems told you about him?"

"Amethyst has. And by the way she talks about him, it sounds like he's the apple in everyone's eye or something."

"Woah woah woah. Hold the phone... The crystal gems talk about my dad like he's the apple in their eye?... Do the crystal gems LIKE LIKE my DAD?!"

"... Yeah. I guess so."

"EWWW! Forget it," The brown haired boy blurted out in disgust. "We're not going to see my dad!"

"How come?"

"Because maybe you might fall in love with him too! And that'll be disgusting! Let's go before he sees us! Now!" The brown haired boy grabbed his friend from her wrist and started to pull on her harshly. At first, the periwinkle gem didn't want to go nowhere but to the wash. She wanted to see this tall drink of water that her friends talked about behind Steven's small back. She wanted to know if he was hot or not. Skinny or fat. Fun or boring.

These questions were only answered when she saw just who this person was. He was a male human with a dark-beige beard surrounding his mouth. He also had taupe hair styled in a mullet and dark-taupe eyes, with hair grown past his shoulders, and a large bald spot on the top of his head. He wore white tank top, with long or short gray pants. And he had a tan line on his shoulders and feet, which was covered by flip flops. Bismuth knew that everyone had their own out looks on people. But her out look on Greg was two words.

Dead wrong.

The periwinkle gem found herself starting to run as fast as she could with Steven, trying not to be seen. But it was too late. The man saw them in plain sight. And with his child accompanied by a unknown person, he couldn't help but call out to them with worry, "Steven!? W-Who's that with you? Is that. Another gem?!"

"... You shouldn't get with multiple women dad! That's disgusting,' Greg's son blurted out back at the same volume, confusing the old man a little.

"What are you talking about?!"

"Uh," The old new gem yelled out in a awkward manner as she started to put Steven on her back slowly but surely. "Yeah, hi. I'm Bismuth. And, uh, the crystal gems think you're hot. But I think you're um... UGLY! HA HA HA!" With that being said, the gem started to run away from the man as the young boy behind her shouted to go faster. She expected the man to chase them down, but instead she watched as he scratched his head in confusion. The look alone was enough to make her laugh along with the boy behind her.

But when he laughed, the gem couldn't help but look behind her just to see it. His closed eyes. His cute smile. And the sound of happiness. That made her day. Just seeing her little meatball happy. She could just look at him forever like this. But soon, the young one had to save his breath to blurt out to her, "We've been so bad. Y-You still want to see more of Beach City, though?"

"Whatever floats your boat, kiddo! I think it wouldn't hurt to go to one more place though. What do you think?"

"Hmm... Oh! I got just the place..."

With the attraction in mind, the brown haired boy made his friend lead the way down the sidewalk. And when they met with the end of the walk, they were also met with one of the most funniest places in the world. A place where the human knew that the gem would be guaranteed fun.

And that was Beach City Funland.

The place looked sort of weird to Bismuth at first with the presence of many rides, but when Steven told her that it would be okay, all her worries just vanished. And with that, the periwinkle was about ready to have fun.

The two of them walked around the colorful area to play many games. With the attractions given, the old new gem found herself become lost in the beauty each one gave. Not to mention, she was able to play some games just to win Steven a lot of toys. Whether it was by the rules, by breaking the rules, or by breaking the attraction.

They also got on many rides in the area. Tea cups, the roller coaster, anything! As long as it made both of them happy, especially Steven. The more that boy laughed and smiled, the more Bismuth could feel her heart melt with joy. She didn't care if things didn't go well at first, all she cared about was the human. And if the human was satisfied with his care, so was she. She was truly satisfied...

As they had more fun, it started to get later in the day, leading up to the evening. And with that being the matter, Steven knew that there was only one more ride they had to get on. And that was the ferris wheel. All the boy had to do was bring it to his friend's attention and they were on their way. While they were on the ride, the young boy started to point to things that they forgot to see for the most part. And all Bismuth could do was listen with a smile. A genuine smile...

"That's Onion," The brown haired boy stated, pointing below to the crowd for the gem to see. "He's a trouble maker, I would keep a good eye on him. Then there's his brother, sour cream. He hangs out with his friends most of the time. Their cool, but can be trouble. Or whatever Pearl calls them. Still, their all nice, so don't worry about trying to be their friend. If they meet you, I know they'll love you... Especially Connie."

"Who's Connie," The periwinkle gem asked with curiosity.

"She's my best friend. I... Kind of like her the same way you like Pearl."

"Aww, that's cute... Wait. Who told you about that-."

"Amethyst."

"Huh... Remind me to kick her butt when we get back to the temple."

"No fighting."

"Oh, fine." The two of them then sat in silence throughout the ride, looking out into the distance. The way the sun set red caught their eyes with it's perfection. The ocean still glistened in from the light. With the scenery, it set the perfect mood for both of them to just sit for a second, relax, and take it all in. After such a stressful week, all they needed right now was to have fun. And that's what they did. Together. That's why Bismuth could already tell from the time she had with Steven that this was the best day ever. Just her and her meatball hanging out together with no worries...

"Say, Steven?"

"Yes, Bismuth?"

"... When you went into space back at the moon base, I felt like shattering myself."

"W-What-."

"I wanted to really hurt myself. But instead I let my anger out on the gems. I actually thought you had died out there. That I wouldn't find you again. And when my gem got cracked." The old new gem couldn't help but touch her gem for a moment before continuing with a sigh. "I thought that was it. That we weren't promised a tomorrow. But you came back to me. To us. When you healed me and I held you close, I knew in that moment. That we would come back to each other. Me and you are like planets, no matter what happens. We'll always be together... I promise. I'll never let anything bad happen to you or the gems. Over my dead body. Because. I can't lose my friend. I can't lose you, So-."

Before she could finish, she covered her mouth quickly. The action scared the young boy for a minute. That was until his eyes connected with her's. In just that moment, they saw each other. They saw the sadness, fear, but determination in their orbs. And they also saw something more... In just seconds, the two of them crashed into each other in a tight hug. They took in the warm embrace as everything around them seemed to disappear. It was only them in that moment. The only thing they cared about held close to their bodies.

"I can't lose you either, Bismuth... I won't."

"Me neither, Steven... Me neither." They continued to stay in the closure until the periwinkle gem realized that the ride was over. Their day was over. The moon replaced the sun, causing the area to be lit up like a beacon. It was time to go back home. So the old new gem put her friend back on her back and headed back to the temple in the lovely night. Today was special to her and Steven. Today showed that strangers really are friends you haven't met yet. And it also showed that even the smallest moments can become the life changing ones. Just like today. Even though she only hanged out with Steven for a while, it went to show how much she cared about him more then life. And that's all that mattered.

That was until the two found Garnet and Pearl standing in front of each other, sharing expressions of shock on their face even though the fusion looked really excited. With the scene, Bismuth had to blurt out with concern, "Hey, Pearl, Garnet... What's the problem?"

"Bismuth," Pearl blurted out sadly without sharing eye contact. "Garnet knows. And seeing as she's a fusion and all, she wants to see her right now..."

_"... Oh boy."_

**Once again, sorry for the choppiness of this chapter. I know it was kind of bad, but I hope you guys liked it. To be honest, I wasn't trying to make this a big chapter since it's a bonus one for Labor Day. So I just tried to do what was on my mind. Again, yeah, it was pretty bad in my book. But I hope you guys liked it. And until the next chapter, have a good day! :)**


	15. Fusion Frenzy

With the statement given, the four gems couldn't help but stand quietly as the fusion before them smiled in excitement. Even if they couldn't see through her shades, they knew her eyes lit up like the sun she blocked them from. Not only that, but the showing of her teeth only added on to her thrill of seeing 'her'.

At first, the other gems saw this as normal, until they could tell that she really wanted to see this fusion. Due to this, Steven found his curiosity be explored in his head, wondering hard who this 'her' was. Unlike him, Pearl and Bismuth had to think of what to do for their display for the new fusion. And just how would they display her.

For all they knew, it was a one time thing. A small talk unfold, the pale gem offered to fuse, they danced, and she was made. But only for a second until they unfuse suddenly. Well, to Pearl it was suddenly, but for Bismuth? She already knew why. And maybe it was for the best that they didn't get into it.

For now, they had a bigger problem to deal with. Two very excited gems fused into one that seek a fusion right away. Any fusion as long as she was content. So, as she froze in place with the same grin on her face, the pale gem soon found herself snapping out of her trance to blurt out to her partner near her, "Um, what should we do? She looks really interested to meet her."

"Who's 'her'," Steven asked behind his friend's back before jumping off to the dry sand below. The question caught the two gems by surprise as they stood there trying to find the right answer. But as the younger gem tried to find a answer the older one answered quickly with a nervous chuckle that made the other become upset,

"Um, I don't know who she's talking about to be honest."

"Bismuth, she's talking about-." Before Pearl could finish her sentence, the periwinkle gem covered her mouth before answering secretly, turning away from her little meatball.

"I thought you said we would keep this a secret until we see someone named Smokey Quartz." With that being said, the pale gem gently moved the old new gem's hand off her lips to scold back at the same volume.

"I did. But now Garnet wants to see our fusion! Might as well give her what she wants without lying to Steven!"

"But you said-."

"I know what I said. But right now. We have no choice but to give her what she wants... Okay?"

"... Okay..." The two gems soon went back to the human boy to reveal what Garnet was talking about. But before they could get a word out. Or as much as a syllable. They were interrupted by the sudden shout of realization by the young one. It scared them at first until he told them happily with the same thrill the fusion with them had out loud.

"I know what she's talking about! She wants to see me and Amethyst fuse!... Aw man. But that means that she figured it out. That sucks. And it's not a she. It's a... A... Huh, what is it? A he? A sheman?... Hmm..." Of course. Steven had to have a feeling that his caretaker was talking about his new fusion with a actual gem. The so called Smokey Quartz. The two calmed yet confused gems wanted to correct him quickly. But they couldn't find themselves to do so when their eyes came into one another's view.

While they looked at each other with slight concern, they realized that maybe this was for the best. Pearl did plan on seeing Smokey Quartz sometime now. Might as well be now. Not only that, but they still needed to think about their fusion and everything. Also, this was Steven they were talking about. They might as well give him what he wanted. And what he wanted was to be right, they could tell.

So with that in mind, Bismuth and Pearl nodded in unison before the old new gem answered back, "Yeah. Maybe she is talking about this Smokey Quartz. Because I don't have a clue as to who she's talking about. Do you, Pearl?"

"Not at all," The pale gem agreed, trying to act dumbfounded around the young one. "I have no clue. I know! Maybe you can show us this Smokey Quartz so Garnet can stop freaking out both mentally and physically. How does that sound?"

"Yeah... Yeah! That can work! Thanks, Bismuth. Thanks, Pearl. When you see Smokey Quartz, you're mind will be blown away! Even if this wasn't how we wanted you guys to know."

"Trust me, we know how that feels..."

Steven almost went to get Amethyst in the house. But before he could call her name, the purple gem found herself walking out of the temple. As she approached the balcony with a groan, she yelled out in annoyance to the gems, "Hey. Can you guys stop being so loud? I'm trying to relax for once after that little mission of ours. But let me guess? We have another mission now? Give me a break!"

"Uh, actually, Amethyst, Garnet found out about Smokey Quartz," The brown haired boy stated, making the short gem question how in surprise after a gasp of shock. Instead of a answer though, she was given a scolding from the boy out of nowhere. "Wait a minute. That reminds me! Is it true that you guys are in love with my dad?! And don't lie either! Bismuth told me! That's disgusting!"

"Uhhhhh-."

"What," Pearl questioned in surprise and disgust before staring deep into Bismuth's eyes with utter anger. "What did she tell you?"

"She told me that you have a thing for Greg," The old gem told her friend casually before changing her tone to a shocked one. "I expected more of a taste from you though. How could you like some fat dude?"

"I don't love Greg. Amethyst tricked you."

"... Wha?" Out of nowhere, the short gem started to laugh out loud as she walked down the stairs historically. When she met with the three raged faces of her friends, she decided to explain through small chuckles,

"I might've told Bismuth a white lie about you and Garnet liking Greg. But man. Ha ha ha, I never thought it would get you guys this good. Nor did I think it would get all into Steven's head!"

"He's my dad," The young boy yelled in anger. "Of course it would get me to know that you guys liked him. I had to run away from him today after Bismuth told me what you said."

"Ha ha. Well, sorry about that."

"Oh man, we can argue about this later," The periwinkle gem interrupted to point to the main attraction, a frozen happy Garnet for them to see. "Right now, we need that Smokey Quartz person to appear so Garnet could get out of her shock and leave us alone. Make her appear, please."

"Wait. Garnet knows about Smokey Quartz already?!"

"Yes."

"Aw man! So much for a cool entrance. As much as that would be pretty fun to do, we gotta get Garnet out of her Fusion frenzy. Let's give her what we got, Steven."

"Okay," With the order, the two small gems walked over to the happy Garnet while Bismuth and Pearl stood back to watch the mystery person appear. As they did, the pale gem couldn't help but look at the periwinkle gem stare at the two sadly with crossed arms. The action given didn't make her cool or normal as usual. But only made her more depressed. And of course, the younger gem didn't like that.

Then again, the old new gem did wave at Steven and Amethyst when they gave her a thumbs up. But it wasn't the usual wave Pearl was used to. Nor was her smile one she was used to. It was a crooked one. One filled with so much fear and maybe a hint of nervousness. Either way, the look on that face was enough to make her question what was wrong with the older gem.

While she tried to figure out what the problem was, she slowly started to regain the memory of last night. Right after they fused. The look on her face equal that to the one she had seconds ago. It started off as a look of shock though unlike now. And not long afterwards, turned into a small frown as they exchanged awkward good nights.

By then, she thought that the old new gem only gave her such a look because they actually fused. Maybe she expected for them not to do so, but they did. Or maybe she was surprised, maybe upset, about their lips connecting in order for such a thing to happen. If that was the case, she wondered why? Because to be honest with herself, she actually enjoyed it. Which yes, it surprised her. But she still liked it nonetheless... But did Bismuth hate it? What was wrong? She wanted to know. And she would know now...

If it wasn't for something to appear from a ball of light. And who appeared from it was none other then Steven and Amethyst's fusion.

Smokey Quartz.

"Heya," The dark brown gem greeted happily as she summoned her shield and whip. "Smokey Quartz here! Nice to meet ya."

What Smokey wanted was what she got. Utterly shocked gems. Instead of saying a single word, all three older gems just stood where they were with wide mouths and eyes filled with surprise. All of them stood like this for a while until they started to be distinguished from one another once again. Where Garnet only watched with shock in a yet again frozen state, Pearl found herself holding onto Bismuth as if she had saw a ghost while the older gem held her back. What they all had in common was only one simple thing.

They freaked out.

"WWWHAAAAT!?"

"HOLY-."

"Don't bother putting your socks back on," Smokey interrupted the pale and periwinkle gem in a cocky manner. "Because I'm gonna knock them off again." With that being said, the fusion took put together their whip and shield to create a yo-yo. And only with that sight, the three gems started to become more excited and scream or squeal like wild animals. But it didn't matter, at least Garnet was enjoying as her shocked face turned into one full of complete adoration.

"Now that you've see me, I might as well show you how I defeated Jasper back at the kindergarten."

"Actually, I did that-."

"This is a little trick I like to call "Walk the dog," The new fusion interrupted the periwinkle gem, but she didn't care. There was a new fusion! They all had to celebrate! And celebrate they did as Garnet started to shake Pearl as she shouted out loudin happiness. As they did that, Bismuth started to slam her shape shifting hammer hands into the ground harshly like a gorilla. Through the ruckus, the pale gem had to blurt out loud gladly,

"Explain EVERYTHING!"

Smokey soon summoned another yo-yo to display as they started their next trick to display. "This one's called "Jog the Dog"!" The trick was them slamming their yo-yos into the beach and the balcony harshly. The pale gem did love the way the fusion was being show cased at first. But when she realized that they were causing destruction the area and their home, she started to realize that maybe this gem wasn't under control just yet. And that alone scared her a little as her excitement depleted.

"And this one's called "Dog-Walking Is Just My Day Job 'til I Finally Get That Callback!" The new fusion then summoned yet another yo-yo to help with her new trick. But just as she was about to do it, Pearl wiggled herself out of a squealing Garnet's hold to stop Bismuth's cheering. And when she did, she immediately shouted out cautiously,

"I think now is a better time then ever."

"You mean. You want to show her now," The periwinkle gem questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. I've seen Smokey Quartz now. So we can fuse and stop her from making a mess." Before she could refuse to do so, the pale gem pulled the older one to a open space where they decided to do their dance.

They started to waltz with each other until Bismuth spun her Pearl around her arm before pulling her close. She then twirled her away only to lift her up towards her. Finally, the older gem pulled the younger one close and planted her lips on the other. Once again, a ball of light appeared to catch Smokey and Garnet's attention. And with their eyes on the light, what they found that appeared from it was something amazing.

What arose from the light was a light tall periwinkle gem with the similar body type of Bismuth. She had a pointy nose, noticeable cheeks, and two different colored eyes, her left being solid black and the other being ocean blue with a pearl on top of her head. This was also accompanied by peach pink hair that had five strands of rainbow highlights in it.

As for clothing, she wore a aqua blue long sleeve shirt and a light pink waistband/scarf over overalls. They faded from dark blue to burgundy and had a yellow star embedded on it along with a Bismuth being shown through it on her chest. On the wrists were long pink wristbands. And to complete it all, she wore light blue boots.

With the fusion shown to them, the other fusions couldn't help but look once again in utter shock. But this time unlike Smokey who slowly erupted a smile on their face, Garnet had enough. She passed out from too much awesomeness. The two other fusions were left alone. Due to this, the dark brown gem had to ask through her surprise, "W-Who are you?"

"... I don't know," The new fusion blurted out in a emotionless middle female voice with her eyes half closed. "Let me think about it... Oh wait. I got it, I think... You're name is Smokey Quartz because you're all brown and stuff. Which is pretty good, I think. Eh... Since I'm light periwinkle and stuff... Eh,

I guess you can call me Chalcedony."

Not long after telling her name, Chalcedony took out her Pearl's spear to throw it in the air before turning her hand into roman scissors. She then launched her hand into the air to make it slam into the spear to create her new weapon. A cyan scythe. With her weapon now in hand, Smokey found them almost losing their breath from utter surprise. All they could do was just squeal in delight before shouting out fortunately,

"Oh my diamonds! You have got to be the coolest gem I have ever seen next to Garnet!"

"... Yeah. I'm pretty cool."

"Not to mention you sound so monotone... Is that how you act in battle," They asked curiously with a sinister smile. "Because if so, then I don't know how that will help you."

"I bet I can beat you in my sleep... Actually that does sound nice right now. A good old sleep." The bright periwinkle gem then turned away from the dark brown one to go lay down on the sand casually. "Nighty night. Wake me up when the sun comes back out fully."

"Hey, what do you think you're doing," Smokey asked in disbelief that the new fusion would just go and walk away from them. "You can't just go and sleep on the job! Nonetheless, on a invitation to see how strong we are in a fight!"

"I don't want to fight you. I want to relax and become one with the moon."

"... What are you talking about?"

As Chalcedony laid her eyes on the moon that started to wake up in the starry night, she blurted out calmly, "The moon and I are like sisters. Yin and Yang. Diamonds. And best friends. We must stay with each other in reconciliation tonight if I want to become even stronger. Yes, I do thirst for battle. But now is not the time for such actions. Only time for me and my sister to reconnect..."

"... Not only are you cool looking and boring, but you're weird," The other fusion shouted out with a mixture of anger, confusion and concern. "All the other fusions usually have common sense and are cool like Garnet. Quiet but sweet like Opal. Angry and psyco like Sugilite. Or fun going like me and Stevonnie! But you? You act like a hipee!"

"It is a full moon tonight," The new fusion stated without looking at Smokey before gripping her scythe tightly. "My scythe thirsts for gem blood. But hopefully I will try and not go to hard on you since you're a pipsqueak... As the moon shines upon us, I will have no mercy on us fusions since I expect you to be strong... As soon as you two split, my scythe will stop it's journey for Smokey's soul. And the battle will be over. But for now... We fight like gems!"

"That's what I like to hear. Hit me with your best shot, teach!"

In less then a second, Smokey found Chalcedony right in front of the to deliver a slash quickly. Luckily for them, they were able to dodge it and counter with a yo-yo attack. This only proved as a way to push the bright periwinkle gem away so they could attack once again. Only this time, the other gem threw another slash of her weapon to hit the short fusion's shoulder before delivering a kick to the chest that pushed them to the ground.

Smokey stayed down for a second or two before they got back to their feet to summon two yo-yos once again. With them, they threw the two at their opponent, causing them to hit back harshly, making a smile appear on the dark brown gem's face. But not for long when Chalcedony came back to them to throw a slash once again. The short fusion was able to jump over it to throw her weapon once again. But this time, the larger fusion was able to catch it with her wrist before pulling the other towards them to deliver a headbutt.

The attack caught them off guard, but they countered quickly with a hit of a yo-yo to the side of the other's head. This made the bright periwinkle gem slide away, only to recover on their feet and jump back into battle like it was nothing. Chalcedony threw her scythe and Smokey threw their two yo-yos. With their attacks, their weapons clashed into each other, making them enter a struggle.

As the struggle went on, the two of them couldn't help but smile at the other. Their eyes connected for only a moment until Smokey won the struggle by throwing another yo-yo out of nowhere at Chalcedony. Luckily, it didn't hit her but it made her become vulnerable to the dark brown gem. And because of that, they were able to dive kick their opponent towards the water, where she fell down to splash the source in the air.

Smokey thought it was over. But they should know better then to turn their back on their enemy. Out of nowhere, a laser almost hit them before they side stepped away from it. This caused them to turn to find Chalcedony standing proudly with her scythe in hand as she taunted the two to fight some more. Without hesitation and a grin, the shorter fusion dashed into the water to continue their battle.

The two of them fought like there was no tomorrow. The water and the moon were the only things that served as a guide for both of them. Just like the two sources, they became one in battle while they laughed as their blades collide. They soon started to realize throughout that moment, that it wasn't a battle they wanted. Nor was it dominance. But it was just fun. And fun was what they got.

Soon, the two of them hit their critical spots. And before they knew it, they had split into their originals forms, laughing together happily as their clothes and bodies soaked in the water. Their laughter were combined in unison as the moon and the beach laughed along with them quietly.

As they did this, they all found themselves being content with the sound of happiness around them. Amethyst loved to hear herself have fun with her friends, along with Steven, Bismuth, and Pearl. Even if things were still troubling them in the present or future, they all knew as long as they could have fun like this, get excited like this. Laugh like this... Then everything would be okay...

* * *

 

"So... Is anyone gonna get Garnet," Amethyst asked quietly.

"What's wrong with her," Pearl replied in a questionable tone.

"She passed out from too much excitement."

"...

_Bismuth, go get Garnet!"_


	16. Author's Note/Teaser

"We are the crystal gems!!"

* * *

 

Steven watched as the Ruby with a gem embedded on her eye begin to message her arm. As she continued to stay in the new found state, the young teen called out quietly and nervously the human's name. With this, lifted his head up slightly to hear her ask shyly with apple shaded cheeks. "That boy caused something in my body to fire up. Is that normal?"

* * *

 

"Ladies and gentlemen," Bismuth shouted at the top of her lungs carelessly as she grasped the mic in her hand like her life depended on it. "I would like to announce the start of the first. Annual. Gem air race!... Plus human if you want," She added for the minority of her team, who a good seventy five percent delivered frowns her way. They were filled with annoyance and fear of what was to come.

* * *

 

"I need to know," Steven nearly screamed, tears now developing from his eyes to the gems distaste. Especially for Bismuth and Amethyst, who could only watch in utter shock and worry for the male's state. "And you need to stop hiding things!"

* * *

 

"I won't forgive her," Jasper whispered out of regret to her fellow friends before turning back to the entrance tracing her to the truth. The last words she said before entering were ones they wouldn't forget. No matter what the cost. "I never will."

* * *

 

"You're not experiments," Connie declared as loud as groans and sniffles that surrounded her and her human allies. "You're humans! And you don't belong here! You belong on Earth!"

* * *

 

"We would love to present to you," Amethyst slipped out through uncontrollable laughter with her sister, who simply smiled the whole time. "Trained by the best. Here's the new. And improved. BLOODSTONE!"

* * *

 

"Guys... Who's Nora?"

...

* * *

 

"I don't think you guys know what kind of situation you all entered. But it's okay. You'll know soon enough.

You filthy Bismuth and Quartz."

* * *

 

**Yo! FG96 here! And yes. I know this wasn't much. But it's a teaser! And this does confirm that I will be bringing A True Crystal Gem back! I'll be continuing from fusion frenzy all the way to Lion 4 to help me get ready for the Steven Bomb. Now as for if I'll do it throughout the week or I'll have to double up on the weekend. I guess it depends on how I feel. But yeah. A true Crystal Gem is back in business and I hope you all are more excited then me! So what do you guys think, should I do it throughout the weekend or throughout the week in general? And what did you think of this teaser? Yay or nay? Whatever you guys think, I hope you all enjoyed it. And as always, have a good day! :)**


	17. Layers of Onion: Part 1

It didn't come as a surprise to know that everyone in Beach City had a set of friends to count on.  
Even the always, frustrated Lars, who had Sadie, the mayor's son Buck Dewey, Jenny Pizza, and Sour Cream. Connie Maheswaran had the students at school that equaled that to her academic skills and intention span on fun. Even the Crystal Gems and the new Crystalline Gems were friends, seeing as they're the same species and have the same intentions. All the citizens in the city located next to a beach had fellow allies to have their back in difficult times. All citizens.

Except for Onion.

The young male was a lonely outsider to many children that lived around him. This was manly due to his outlook on certain situations and his abnormal actions. Most children fear him from his signature 'death' stare and his eery silence from refusing to talk to anyone. It wasn't a matter of hating them though. His reasoning, as a matter of fact, was unknown. The young boy was a total mystery all together. Which is why he was limited on friends unlike his brother, who was popular with everyone. Luckily, he did have one friend to depend on. The human member of the Crystal Gems, Steven Universe.

The two young kids were once like the others that pushed Onion away. Steven would only see him as a troublemaker and somewhat of a creep, while the boy would make his fantasies become reality. They continued to sustain this wild goose chase for a while. Until the brown haired boy finally realized that all he needed was a friend. And luckily, that's exactly what he got. A fellow friend.

He would know too since he now found himself bouncing away with the human/gem on his couch. He wasn't the only one that was aware of their friendship though. So was one of Steven's teammates, Bismuth.

The periwinkle gem let her eyes examine from the peaks of the temple Steven didn't bother to explore. She watched as they spent their time with activities controlled by Steven's dialogue. It made it feel as if they were living in a movie of sorts with the way the older boy used his tone and how Onion contributed with his actions. It was awfully adorable to watch the two get along so semi perfectly. She kind of wanted to see her little meatball like this for eternity. But sooner or later, it was time for the younger boy to departure from the older one's home.

After the blonde left the scene, the grinning Bismuth approached the contempt Steven, hearing him declare out loud as he watched his friend leave, "Epilogue; Things get a little lonely for Onion. Not knowing any other kids his age. But, luckily, he had his friend Steven, who would kindly donate some time to a youth in need."

"That was a friend," Bismuth questioned loud enough to cause Steven to jump up in surprise and land on the floor violently on his back. The action immediately made a shocked periwinkle gem come to the aid of the human, helping him back to his feet effortlessly. "His name's Onion? Like the vegetable?"

"Yeah," The human answered. "He's another friend I have here."

"How come you don't hang out with him often?"

"Onion.. Kind of loves to be by himself. So, I kind of give him space," Steven informed with a disappointing frown that soon switched to a hopeful smile. "But don't worry, he's used to it. And so am I." Just with this information was enough to make the old new gem chuckle happily. She adored seeing Steven so happy and filled with nothing but a mix of joy and innocence. Something that the older gem truly loved to experience. It made her wonder if the other gems felt like this. If the Crystalline had moments like these. Most importantly, if the rubies had moments like these.

Before she knew it, the little meatball in front of her ceased her daze by asking worryingly, "Is something wrong, Bismuth?"

"Not really," She responded, scratching her head in a nervous state. "I was just thinking about the rubies. And if they experience these kinds of moments like you."

"Now that you mention it, the rubies haven't met any of my friends yet," The human blurted out after a fearsome gasp. "They're friendless!"

"Well, not entirely. They got Garnet, Amethyst, Pear is questionable along with Lapis. Peridot, of course Japser since they adore her so much-." Before she knew it, the old new gem's face was held in a pair of medium sized hands harshly, pulling her nearly down to her knees. Solid black eyes met a second pair of the same shade to let the human owner really scream,

"She's human friendless!"

"If it freaks you out that bad, why don't you show them around," Bismuth suggested while she retreated back to her normal height with a sigh. "You did that with me."

It was a good thing the gem suggested such a action because before she knew it, the young boy's eyes began to sparkle uncontrollably like stars engulfed in excitement. Having hilarity now in his face, he cheered more then recommended, "Yeah! And maybe I can introduce them to Onion as well! W-We can introduce them to one another tomorrow-."

"Hold on there, little buddy," Bismuth interrupted with a voice filled with worry and doubt. "Um, I'm starting to have second thoughts about it and. Um. Are you sure you want them to meet Onion? I mean, they are rubies. They can be a bit of trouble. Leggy is a little lightheaded. Army's... Army. Navy's a peacemaker. Eyeball's a little Japser. And Doc is literally the red ranger. Just think about how this will effect the little boy?"

"I think Onion will be fine. Besides, he knows of the other Crystal Gems. And he likes them! What's five rubies going to do? Triple the fun! Come on, Bismuth! Please?!" The young boy decided that now was a better time then ever to use the periwinkle's weakness.

He whipped out a set of puppy eyes, a quivering lip and a whine fitted for a stray dog. This created a great disturbance around them for a while along with sad silence. Bismuth tried hard to keep herself together. To let herself persuade her that this wouldn't work. But before she knew it, she had released a grunt of defeat and responded with a weak smile.

"Fine, Steven. I trust you with this... And it's quintuple."

"Thanks, Bismuth," The brown haired human cheered gladly before running towards the teleportation pad. "You're the best! I'm gonna go tell the other gems about this! Wish me luck!"

"Of course." Soon, the human found himself disappearing from the scene with his teammate sighing heavily. She knew she made a good decision in making the boy happy. But did she make a good decision in suggesting a custom made death wish for that Onion kid? All her mind could do was simply wonder that evening on the man outcomes to this situation,

And hope that his doom wasn't one of them.

* * *

 

The day after Steven persuaded a concerned Jasper and a horrified Peridot, the human boy began to wait for the younger male to meet him at his home. He watched carefully as the waves around his home mixed with the sea gracefully kissed the shore below lovingly. It served to keep him calm in times like these. Especially when he had the thought in the back of his mind that things with the rubies would get out of hand.

He could hear them now. Messing with the poor child like a rag-doll. Using him like a another tool from their home planet. Experimenting on him like a. Like a dog! Just the imagery in his mind of such things caused him to shiver as if he encountered a ghost. The thought could've left him in a horrified state, maybe in a even worse state. But luckily, he was able to escape the torment with the sight of his mute friend dashing up the stairs to the door.

With a now present smile on his face, the older male greeted the younger one's presence with a friendly, "Oh, hi Onion! Need someone to hang out with again? Come on in!" He offered for the quiet boy to come into his sanctuary, but only silence slid through the exposed cracks. A awkward moment was about to be born with their confused and stoned stares.

Hopefully though, Steven had came up with something in mind as he placed his hand on his chin to continue with a smirk controlled by victory, "I see. Onion wanted to come in, but he paused at the door way. He needed to take his shoes off, but he didn't know how."

Sadly, the human/gem's clarity was taken away with a shake of Onion's head before delivering his hand to him. With his cold expression that everyone in Beach City's gotten used to, the young boy grabbed hold of his friend's hand, who had questioned nicely, "You want to go somewhere else?"

Like a trigger to a gun, Steven soon found himself being pulled from his post by Onion and through Beach City in a sprint. They passed many traditional places like Big Donut, Beach City Walk Fries, Funland Arcade. Even Onion's home, where his parents were working on a self portrait of the young one's dad. The brown haired boy thought they would end up at the Funland Amusement Park, but instead they were met the depths of the forest besides their homes.

Now in the sea of trees, Onion let go of Steven to let him recover from the little workout. "Where are we," He questioned with a harsh sigh escaping his lips lightly while examining his surroundings. All he was met with was trees everywhere meeting no end along with boulders of rocks that became one with the endless carpet underneath him. Rays of light elegantly touched the backs of the green sea along with the rubber of both boys' shoes and the singing of chirping birds served to keep the brown haired male at ease. Sadly, not for long though.

Before he knew it, the young blonde haired boy whistled loudly to catch his friend's attention. And it certainly did since Steven began to state with excitement, "I didn't know you could whistle like that!" But soon enough, his happiness was switched to fear. Before he knew it, Steven had heard the bushes around him shuffle violently and not due to the wind, but another force. He could've questioned what or who it was, until he was met with the cause.

A young boy like figure with a pinkish stripped shirt, a backpack, and green pants who yelled out frighteningly, "Garbanzo!" What didn't freak Steven out wasn't how the child looked like. But what he was wearing, which was a white mask with a demonic like green smiley face on it. This made the older boy squirm in fear from the threat, but he was not aware of another one. This one was another male child who wore blue overalls over a neon blue shirt, a red scarf and brown shoes. For his mask, he wore one that had red squinted eyes and it's tongue sticking out. And finally, there was a female kid who had on a pot as a hat, long sleeve blue vest over her yellow shirt, maroon pants and brown shoes. Her mask was on with a sad blue face.

These mysterious figures truly threw Steven in a fearsome state. So fearsome, that he thought this would be his sick demise. But instead, he was shown mercy. Out from the masks stood a group of wandering children who delivered a series of reassuring smiles. Confusion rushed over Steven quickly, but not for long when he watched the young blonde bring the unknown kids into a group hug large enough for his little arms. This was enough to make the brown haired hybrid to realize with a joyful grin, "Oh, they're your friends! Uh, hi," He eventually greeted with his hand held up in a friendly manner. "I'm Steven."

"Garbanzo," The young boy with the pink stripped shirt responded affably.

"I guess your name is Garbanzo," Steven concluded happily. "Since you're name after a bean, I guess the baby on your back must be... Pinto!" Luckily for him, the baby grinned in excitement, showing that the human gem hybrid was correct. With the victory, he moved on to the boy next to them dressed in overalls. "And your name is..." Before he could even guess his name, the young male took off his hat to reveal a small squash on his head, giving the brown haired male before him a clue as to what it was. Fortunately, it didn't take long for him to respond with the proper name fitted for such a boy. "Squash."

"And to my left, we have," At the left was the last candidate for the naming contest, who was a young female with a pot on her head. With the pot on her head, she slammed it lightly as her small clue to her given name, prompting Steven to give his input on the name. "Slingshot!" Sadly, as a response, he was given another hit at the pot, now in a little bit of shock and anger. "Uh, pothat?" Once more the female hit her trusty hat in building rage, scaring and confusing the newcomer gradually as he continued to guess. "Uh, I don't know. S-S... Soup?" Steven was finally given a delightful air kiss from the female before laughing the situation off victoriously.

"Well, it's nice to meet you guys!" Soon, the new group of friends approached Steven to pat him as a way of greeting the new member of their group. In the warmth, all the young boy could reply with was that this was a warm welcome.

Surprisingly, the hybrid was having a good time. He found it rather weird that they showed up like menaces hunting him down for blood before becoming friendly acquaintances. Even Onion was happy to see his buddies getting along quickly after the misunderstanding. It made him feel more like he was truly at home. That for once in his problematic life, everything was perfectly normal for him. Onion, Steven, and his gang were bound to have a good day...

That is. Until there was an ambush, created by none other then the dilemma group of Rubies.

"Rubies," The leader of the small red female creatures roared with determination. "Save Steven from these evil do-ers!" The gems followed the given order with a delivery of their own battle-cries. They dashed towards the defenseless and confused gang of children as if they were about to initiate in a war. Their mindsets were those fitted for homeworld. But they had to remember, this wasn't homeworld. They were on Earth. With that in mind, their human friend jumped in front of the children, hands held high in defense, to inform them at the same volume,

"Wait, stop! These guys aren't evil! They're my friends!"

"You're friends? Rubies, freeze," Doc demanded to cause her small but deadly army to stop in their tracks. The ruby with her gem embedded in her chest soon sighed before responding with a nervous chuckle. "My apologizes, Steven. We're still trying to get used to how things work here on Earth."

"But why didn't you tell us in the first place when you were at the barn last night," Eyeball scolded, still maintaining her voice powered by rage.

"Because I just met these guys too," Steven revealed with a bead of sweat daring to drop down his head. "I didn't know Onion's friends until now... And why are you guys even here?"

"We were at the temple, but we couldn't find you," Army informed, more quieter then before. "When we couldn't find your presence, we went to speak with Bismuth. She said you was dragged by a boy name Onion into Beach City. We checked around until we came up with the logical way of finding you. Going down a mysterious path into a dangerous place... Since it's said that humans LOVE to go to places that are prohibited or bad for their survival."

"But that's not the point," Eyeball literally exploded. "Who are these people? And who is this person named Onion?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce you guys to one another," Without hesitation, Steven approached the gang of children to introduce them from left to right. "These are Onion's friends I just met. There's Soup, Squash, Pinto, and her brother, Garbanzo." The children were all silent, waving kindly to their guests, unlike Garbanzo, who said his name in a greeting like manner. This confused the rubies for a second, making them wonder why the male with the pink stripped shirt would waste time to say his name when he was clearly greeted to them. But luckily, they became side tracked when Steven showed them the main event of them all.

"And this is probably the leader of them all, Onion!"

"Why greetings to you all," Army replied without wasting any time. "We are the rubies! I am Ruby, codename: Army!"

"I'm Ruby, Codename: Navy!"

"Ruby, Codename: Leggy. I'm the youngest of the group."

"I'm Ruby-1F4 Cut-4ND, but you can call me by my codename; Eyeball. And our leader would be Doc-." Before she could even finish, the ruby with her gem replacing her left eye found a horrifying sight. The sight was enough to make the ruby raise her eyebrows in utter shock and her mouth to slightly slide down in horror. Such a look became duplicated onto the other gems with Navy adding a scared gasp to her own. What exactly was this fearful expression possessing their silent leader?

It was none other then the expression of surprise and astonishment.

And it was all because of Onion.

It was because of his peculiar combed hair, his jacket tied over his neck like a scarf. His blank stare that made him come off as cold but not too distant. And his eyes that were so solid black that wouldn't be surprising if they were staring into her soul. This boy. This human. Had done something that Doc was sure no other human would be able to do. He captured her attention. And her special organ.

Her heart.

"Uh, Doc," Leggy called out in a puzzled manner. "Are you okay?"

"I... I uh..."

Time seemed to have stopped eternally for the leader of the rubies. Before she knew it, the blonde haired boy had left with his gang of misfits out of the forest in their little wagon ride. The mysterious kidnapper of her attention had disappeared from her eyes. It was with his absence that the ruby started to feel empty, longing for nothing but the desire to know what this feeling exactly was. Was this a thirst to fight? A thirst to eat? Or a thirst to fear for what is to come? She probably would never know. And due to this, sadness had began to dawn onto the poor small leader as she continued to stare into nothingness.

Steven and the group of rubies watched as the Ruby with a gem embedded on her chest begin to message her arm. As she continued to stay in the new found state, the young child called out quietly and nervously the human's name. With this, lifted his head up slightly to hear her ask shyly with apple shaded cheeks. "That boy caused something in my body to fire up. Is that normal?"

"Something in your body to fire up," Steven replied in a questionable manner as he placed a hand on his chin in a thinking state. "Hmm... It could be that you were scared. Or worried. Or embarrassed... Or... Wait," The human gem hybrid had now been struck with the realization behind this situation. With the thought in mind, he continued with a face filled of shock, "Don't tell me that. Doc,

_Maybe you have a crush on Onion!"_


End file.
